ɫ��TV

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING BY STÉPHANE DUJARRIC​,
SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
THURSDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 2026

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. 

MIGRANTS 

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) today released new data showing that at least 7,667 people died or went missing on migration routes worldwide in 2025.  According to IOM, sea crossings remained among the deadliest routes. In 2025, at least 2,185 people died or went missing in the Mediterranean, while 1,214 were recorded on the Western Africa/Atlantic route toward the Canary Islands. Despite year-on-year declines, IOM said that the real toll is likely much higher, as at least 1,500 additional people were reported missing at sea but could not be verified due to limited access to search-and-rescue information.  

IOM also tell us that the numbers from 2025 are lower than the nearly 9,200 deaths recorded in 2024, and said that the decline reflects fewer people attempting dangerous irregular migration routes, particularly in the Americas.   

However, the Agency says that the decline is also due to restricted access to information and funding constraints for humanitarian actors documenting migrant deaths on key routes. IOM is calling for urgent funding to strengthen data collection to better guide the humanitarian system in delivering life-saving responses.  

INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL BOARD (INCB) 

The International Narcotics Control Board has published its annual report today, which highlights how the health and wellbeing of people worldwide have been protected by international cooperation, through the framework of the drug control conventions.  

The report describes how the collective action of States has played a vital role to reduce the social and economic harms of illicit drugs. 

For example, last year, the Board’s work prevented the diversion of 3 metric tonnes of a fentanyl precursor which could have been used to illicitly manufacture up to 3.3 metric tonnes of fentanyl. 

The International Narcotics Control Board is an independent, quasi-judicial body mandated to monitor Governments’ implementation of the three international drug control conventions, which is the backbone of the global drug control system.  

***The guest at the Noon Briefing was the UN Resident Coordinator for the United Nations in Cuba, Francisco Pichon. He spoke to reporters about the situation in Cuba.