Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Central Emergency Response Fund
– Food And Agriculture Organization – Food Prices
– Ethiopia
– Ethiopia / Humanitarian
– Yemen
-DR Congo
– U.N. Mission In South Sudan / Presidential Meeting
– Haiti
– Ukraine
– Refugee Children / School
– Senior Personnel Appointment – ASG Department Of Safety And Security
– International Day Of Non-Violence
– World Space Week
– Financial Contribution
CENTRAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE FUND
Today, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released $160 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support life-saving assistance in 12 of the world’s most underfunded humanitarian crises across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.
This allocation is part of a wider push to reach 87 million people facing the most severe humanitarian crises this year.
Tom Fletcher, the Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said that today’s new funding will help us get aid to people who might otherwise be left behind. But he stressed that money alone won’t get us there. He called for leaders to exercise political will to open access, to remove obstacles and to help reach people whose lives are on the line.
Of the new allocation, $150 million will support life-saving responses in Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cuba, Mali, Niger, the occupied Palestinian territory, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Yemen.
Five of the crises, that includes Afghanistan, the OPT, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen, are among the 10 places where Mr. Fletcher has called for urgent diplomatic action to secure humanitarian access to unlock assistance for 11 million of the 87 million people prioritized for support this year.
The allocation also includes $10 million to address the urgent needs of people with disabilities in the 12 crises and make humanitarian assistance more accessible and to make it also more inclusive.
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION – FOOD PRICES
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced that the benchmark index for the world food commodity prices rose in September, driven by higher sugar, cereal and vegetable oil prices.
The FAO Price Index averaged 136 points last month, up from 1.5 per cent in August and 5.8 per cent from just a year ago. Sugar saw the sharpest rise, with 6.1 per cent to its highest level since April 2025, as global supplies are expected to tighten.
Cereal prices were up 5.1 per cent on the month, and wheat reached its highest level since August 2023, largely because of logistical constraints in the Black Sea region. Maize hit a three-year high, as supplies tightened and uncertainty continued over shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
ETHIOPIA
The U.N. is concerned by rising tensions among countries in the Horn of Africa at a time when unity, dialogue and cooperation are urgently needed to support peace and stability in the region.
The Secretary-General calls on all States to exercise restraint, refrain from any actions that would further enflame tensions and commit to resolving their differences though dialogue.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-10-02