UN News Today 3 August 2026 |

DR Congo: New treatment centre opens doors to Ebola patients: OCHA 

We start in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or DRC, where the UN is continuing to support efforts to contain the Ebola Bundibugyo virus outbreak in the east of the country.

It’s the DRC’s largest ever, with more than 3,600 confirmed cases and 1,587 deaths reported, since it was first declared in mid-May.

The increasing number of cases, its expanding geographic spread and high mortality highlight the need for rapid action, aid teams say.

They’ve warned that the disease appears to be causing stillbirths and premature deliveries, underscoring the need to provide additional care for patients who’re pregnant.

But the situation is complicated, as around 270,000 people who’ve fled violence now live in displacement sites across Ituri province, where conditions are ideal for the disease to spread.

At Kigonze displacement camp on the outskirts of Bunia, the capital city of Ituri, UN agencies and partners including the United States and the International Medical Corps (IMC) have helped to set up an Ebola transit centre.

The facility will make it easier to identify suspected cases more quickly and refer confirmed Ebola patients to treatment centres.

Here’s Ramatoulaye Moussa Mazou, Special assistant to the Senior Ebola Coordinator from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA: 

“I am standing here at Kigonze displacement site at the Ebola Transit Centre. You can see behind me a shelter that hosts thousands of displaced people. IMC will inaugurate this week the biggest treatment center of the country with a capacity for 100 beds. At OCHA, we coordinate partners on the ground on the humanitarian response, but also through the humanitarian fund. We make sure they receive funding quickly to scale up the response.” 

Gaza’s families still struggling to feed themselves without basics

To Gaza, where in addition to more deadly strikes attributed to the Israeli military over the weekend, UN agencies say that food insecurity has eased a little, but needs remain high.

In an update on Monday, the World Food Programme (WFP) highlighted how a severe shortage of cooking gas has left families waiting weeks for an eight kilogramme canister that lasts barely half a month.

On the black market, cooking gas is unaffordable for most, forcing thousands to burn hazardous waste or firewood instead.

The agency said that despite an increased number of commercial and humanitarian trucks reaching Gaza, high market prices are putting basic food items out of the reach of four in 10 households.

The WFP survey of families in the war-torn enclave also found that nearly one in two households said that they had completely run out of food at home, with 22 per cent experiencing this more than 10 times in the month preceding the survey.

Echoing those concerns, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, reported severe shortages of key medicines to treat chronic diseases. 

These include insulin and materials needed for cardiac catheterization, dialysis supplies and critical diagnostic and monitoring equipment.

Sudan drone strike highlights dangers for women giving birth in a warzone

There are conflicting reports in Sudan about who is responsible for a deadly drone strike on a court hearing in North Darfur at the weekend.

Thirty-five people are believed to have been killed in the attack on the village of Garra al-Zawaya on Sunday, amid ongoing heavy fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Both parties have been at war since April 2023 following a breakdown in transition to civilian rule.

The humanitarian crisis that has resulted is also one of the world’s biggest health care emergencies.

Highlighting the dangers, the UN agency for sexual and reproductive health services, UNFPA, reported that some displaced women in Blue Nile state have had to give birth on the road.

The pregnant women are among tens of thousands of civilians forced to flee intense fighting in the state between January and May this year.

The agency supports mobile health clinics including at a camp in the state capital Ad-Damazin, including by recruiting and training health workers in the communities where they are needed most. 

Elsewhere across Sudan, sweeping funding cuts have forced UNFPA clinics to close. To keep them running, the agency has appealed for $129 million this year.

Daniel Johnson, UN News.