Category: MIL-OSI

Source: United Nations (video statements)

The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Cuba, Francisco Pichon, told reporters in New York that one month since United States President Donald Trump issued an executive order that created “a fuel blockade for Cuba,” its humanitarian consequences are “deepening by the day.”

Pichon said, “hat we see on the ground is not a temporary shortage, it is a more systemic energy shock that has become the primary humanitarian risk multiplier.”

The 29 January executive order had authorized the imposition of new tariffs on imports from countries that directly or indirectly supply oil to the Government of Cuba.

Pichon said, “the vulnerabilities are rapidly escalating into more acute, humanitarian risks. So, what we find, essential services being scaled back, being disrupted, and daily life for the ordinary people increasingly becoming more fragile.”

Following a US Supreme Court ruling that declared most of the tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) illegal, a new executive order was issued on 20 February removing the tariffs on countries supplying oil to Cuba.

The Resident Coordinator said, “although the US government eliminated the specific tariff mechanisms threatening countries which supply oil to Cuba with tariffs – this as a result of the decision of the Supreme Court last week – the national emergency declared on January 29th remains in effect.”

He noted that additional sanctions to countries that provide oil to Cuba are expected and said, “Cuba continues, in fact, to be designated as an unusual and extraordinary threat to the US national security.”

Pichon said, “Cuba depends 90 percent on fossil fuels for energy generation and there is a significant deficit of more than 30 percent of the minimum demand that is required. So, the oil that is available locally, that is produced locally – and I think there might be questions about the capacity of the country to refine it in a moment like this – does help maintain electricity generation to a minimum level.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WY2HLzqUY8

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Highlights:
Ukraine
South Sudan
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Migrants
International Narcotics Control Board (INCB)

UKRAINE

The UN continues to condemn the attacks by the armed forces of the Russian Federation against civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. Such attacks, wherever they occur, violate international humanitarian law and are unacceptable, unjustifiable and must stop immediately.

From the ground, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that overnight, a large-scale drone and missile attack, combined with front-line hostilities, resulted in civilian casualties and damaged homes and critical infrastructure across the country.

Hostilities resulted in dozens of residential buildings damaged in Kyiv, as well as in Kirovohradska, Kyivska, and Vinnytska oblasts. In the Odesa region, some 40,000 families were left without electricity, and in the Poltava region, damage to gas facilities disrupted power supply for around 20,000 families and businesses. The Ministry of Energy reported additional outages in several eastern and southern regions, continuing a pattern of winter attacks on energy systems.

UN humanitarian partners on the ground provided materials for basicrepairs as well as first aid.

Last month, authorities and our partners said nearly 7,000 people were evacuated from front-line areas in eastern Ukraine.

SOUTH SUDAN

On South Sudan, the UN has seen the violence spiraling across the country, and in particular an incident last weekend involving the brutal killing of civilians in Ayod County, Jonglei State. The UN understands that an investigation is underway.

The UN reiterates that violence against civilians is unacceptable. Civilians must be protected at all times. The UN calls again on all parties to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law.

As Tom Fletcher, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, witnessed in South Sudan earlier this week, the humanitarian situation in the country is rapidly deteriorating, driven by renewed clashes, soaring civilian displacement due to insecurity and constraints on humanitarian access.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY

The Deputy Special Coordinator and Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ramiz Alakbarov, today wrapped up his two-day visit to Gaza Strip. Before leaving Gaza, he joined a medical evacuation mission at the Rafah crossing, where the UN and its partners help patients and their caregivers go to Egypt for urgent medical treatment. He also visited a reception centre in Rafah supporting people who are returning to Gaza.

Mr. Alakbarov spent the last two days in Gaza meeting with our partners, visiting humanitarian facilities supported by ourselves as well as others, and assessing gaps and challenges in the response.

Meanwhile, UN partners leading on water, sanitation and hygiene services tell us that, in the last few months, they have delivered 17,000 hygiene kits to children and their families.

Hundreds of water tanks have been installed near tents since the ceasefire took hold. This makes it easier for people to find access to clean water. While needs remain immense, our humanitarian partners continue to do everything possible to scale up assistance under what remains very challenging circumstances.

On food security, UN partners report that, this month, families in Gaza have on average had two meals a day, compared to one meal a day in July of 2025. While this marks a modest improvement, many families tell us our colleagues that they are struggling to afford food and other essential goods. To help put food on the table, in January, humanitarians provided cash assistance to three quarters of a million people in Gaza.   

And on shelter, this month, UN partners say that they have provided tents, tarpaulins and other supplies to more than 27,000 displaced families.

Additionally, today, in the city of Bani Suhaila in Khan Younis, more than 400 vulnerable families living in this area received food and other essential supplies.

Aid workers are also distributing emergency shelter material, consisting mainly of salvaged timber and metal pallets, in Khan Younis and Gaza city. The material is being used to build housing units that can endure harsh weather conditions which are continuing. Most families across Gaza live in unsafe structures, as hundreds of thousands of housing units have now been damaged since October 2023.

The UN once again appeals for the lifting of restrictions on the entry of construction materials into Gaza Strip, so families can move toward safe and sustainable housing solutions.

Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-02-26

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doiAGN2mDN4