UN News Today 21 August 2026 |

DR Congo Ebola outbreak spreading exponentially, UN responders warn

As the deadliest Ebola outbreak in DR Congo’s history continues to spread, UN responders called once again for international support, with existing funding for lifesaving work critically low.

Since the outbreak was declared on 15 May, 5,290 people have been infected and 2,516 have died, data published on Friday showed.

Of the total confirmed number of cases, 1,152 people have recovered and nearly 840 people remain in isolation or hospitalised. 

Briefing journalists from the Ebola epicentre in Bunia, Ituri province, senior UN Ebola coordinator Julien Harneis, warned that the disease is “growing exponentially” and covers an area bigger than France.

Half of all deaths have happened in just the last 20 days, he said, before describing the challenges facing frontline workers leading the response:

“The operating conditions are brutal; 160 healthcare workers have fallen ill with Ebola and 43 of them have died. And then when we do respond, apart from the threat from the virus, healthcare workers and frontline workers have been attacked by youths. Ambulances have been burned and stoned and the healthcare facilities have been attacked.” 

Despite an $80 million contribution from the United States to the response, deep cuts to aid work have reduced the capacity of humanitarian organizations by more than 30 per cent, Mr. Harneis noted.

Somalia: Child hunger surges as humanitarian aid dries up

The global funding crisis for vital lifesaving work is taking a growing toll on the most vulnerable children in Somalia, where hundreds of health and nutrition facilities have been forced to close.

That’s the alert from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which said that more than 200 nutrition facilities have already closed Baidoa and Burhakaba regions alone, northwest of Mogadishu.

“As ever, children are paying the price,” said UNICEF spokesperson James Elder:

“Fewer facilities mean longer journeys for mums and babies. Longer journeys mean later treatment. Later treatment means more severe illness and greater risk of preventable death.”

In the first six months of this year, compared to the same time last year, Somalia has seen a 32 per cent increase in children being admitted to stabilisation centres with severe acute malnutrition and complications.

Consecutive failed rains and worsening drought have ruined crops and livestock, depriving hundreds of thousands of people across the country of food and water. 

More than half a million were displaced in the first three months of 2026, with drought accounting for nine out of every 10 people displaced. 

More than eight in 10 of those on the move are women and children, who are also among the most severely hit by malnutrition.

Colombia earthquake: 1.2 million need aid as some communities remain out of reach

Almost two weeks after a powerful earthquake struck western Colombia, an estimated 1.2 million people still need humanitarian assistance urgently. 

Some communities have still received little or no aid, UN agencies have warned, in a call for $148 million to respond to needs created by the 7.4-magnitude earthquake.

The funding will help to reach 671,000 of the most vulnerable people, initially in the hardest-hit departments of Risaralda, Valle del Cauca, Chocó and Caldas.

The situation is complicated by the destructive legacy of many decades of civil war, mass displacement and serious and ongoing human rights violations.

Jens Laerke, from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said that the emergency had made an already complex humanitarian situation in Colombia worse: 

“Hundreds of thousands of families already face needs due to the armed conflict and limited access to basic services, livelihoods and infrastructure, especially in rural areas and on the Pacific coast, exactly where the earthquake had its epicentre…”

Latest Government figures indicate that 319 people died in the earthquake although some communities have yet to be accessed.

Daniel Johnson, UN News