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UN PhotoUN / GLOBAL HUMANITARIAN OVERVIEW 2026
STORY: UN / GLOBAL HUMANITARIAN OVERVIEW 2026
TRT: 05:53
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 08 DECEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, United Nations headquarters
RECORDED - 03 DECEMBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“So right now, a quarter of a billion people are in urgent need of humanitarian help. Yet the funding against our last humanitarian overview was only $12 billion, the lowest in a decade. And so, this is a heartbreaking report to share. There is pain on every page.”
4. Wide shot, press briefing room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“In 2025, hunger surged. Food budgets were slashed even as famines hit parts of Sudan and Gaza. Health systems broke apart. Thousands lost access to essential services. Disease outbreaks spiked. Millions went without essential food, health care and protection. Programs to protect women and girls were slashed. Hundreds of aid organizations shut, and over 380 aid workers were killed, the highest on record.
6. Wide shot, press briefing room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“So, as you've heard me say before, we are overstretched, underfunded and under attack. Only 20 per cent of our appeals are supported, and we drive the ambulance towards the fire on your behalf. But we are also now being asked to put the fire out. And there is not enough water in the tank. And we're being shot at.”
8. Wide shot, press briefing room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“Last year, despite the challenges I've described, the humanitarian community reached 98 million people with our support. And I take heart from the conviction that so many leaders have, including the US president, that 2026 will be a year of peacemaking, a year that can create a once in a generation opportunity to do something extraordinary. So, let's do something extraordinary. We have a plan. This new, overhauled global humanitarian overview is the foundation for our response. It is laser focused on saving lives where the shocks hit hardest: wars, climate disasters, earthquakes, epidemics, crop failures.”
10. Wide shot, press briefing room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“Our priority for 2026 is to save 87 million lives. The plan includes 29 more detailed plans covering 50 countries. This includes $4 billion to reach three million across the occupied Palestinian territories, $2.8 billion for 20 million people in Sudan - the world's largest displacement crisis, and $2 billion for the 7 million Sudanese forced to flee. It includes $1.4 billion to save 4.9 million lives in Myanmar and those fleeing the crisis there. And much, much more.”
12. Wide shot, press briefing room
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“So why, you'll be right to ask, 87 million, when so many more than this need our help? The plan sets out where we need to focus our collective energy first. It's therefore based on excruciating life and death choices. Beyond that, of course, there is so much more that we must and should be doing. And this plan has details of what more we could do with more support.”
14. Wide shot, press briefing room
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“What do we need in order to save 87 million lives next year? We need protection for our work. We need that energetic peacemaking. And we need $23 billion. Of course, we need so much more. But this plan shows how we will spend that first $23 billion, of what I'm sure we will raise, on the most urgent, prioritized lifesaving work. And I know budgets are tight right now. Families everywhere are under strain. But the world spent $2.7 trillion on defense last year on guns and arms. And I'm asking for just over one per cent of that. The total global appeal could be fully funded if the global top ten per cent of earners, that's everyone earning over $100,000, gave just $0.20 a day.”
16. Wide shot, press briefing room
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“87 million lives. That's more than died in the Second World War, the horror of which led to the creation of the UN. So, is the UN dead? Tell that to the relatives and the friends of the hundreds of our colleagues who died saving lives this year. Tell that to the 87 million lives that we will set out to save next year, to those under the bombs and to those who are losing most in a rules free, transactional, violent world.”
18. Wide shot, end of press briefing
“There is pain on every page,” UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said as he unveiled the 2026 Global Humanitarian Overview, warning that “a quarter of a billion people are in urgent need of humanitarian help” while funding has fallen to its lowest level in a decade.
Speaking at UN headquarters in New York, Fletcher said last year’s appeal brought in just $12 billion, making it “a heartbreaking report to share.”
He said 2025 saw hunger surge, with food budgets cut even as “famines hit parts of Sudan and Gaza.” Health systems “broke apart,” disease outbreaks rose, and millions lost access to food, medical care and protection. Programs for women and girls were slashed, hundreds of aid groups shut down, and “over 380 aid workers were killed, the highest on record.”
Fletcher warned that the humanitarian system is fraying. “We are overstretched, underfunded and under attack,” he said, adding that only 20 per cent of appeals were supported. “We drive the ambulance towards the fire on your behalf. But we are also now being asked to put the fire out. And there is not enough water in the tank. And we’re being shot at.”
Despite this, agencies “reached 98 million people” last year. Fletcher said, “I take heart from the conviction that so many leaders have, including the US president, that 2026 will be a year of peacemaking, a year that can create a once in a generation opportunity to do something extraordinary. So, let's do something extraordinary. We have a plan.”
The UN’s goal for 2026 is to save 87 million lives through 29 response plans covering 50 countries. Needs include $4 billion for three million people in the occupied Palestinian territories, $2.8 billion for 20 million people in Sudan, $2 billion for seven million Sudanese displaced across borders, and $1.4 billion to reach 4.9 million people affected by the crisis in Myanmar.
Addressing the scale of the effort, Fletcher said: “Why 87 million, when so many more than this need our help? The plan sets out where we need to focus our collective energy first. It’s therefore based on excruciating life and death choices.”
He said the UN needs $23 billion to meet the most urgent needs in 2026. While global budgets are tight, Fletcher noted the world spent $2.7 trillion on defense last year. “I’m asking for just over one per cent of that,” he said, adding the entire appeal could be funded if the top 10 percent of global earners (anyone making over $100,000) gave $0.20 a day.
“Eighty-seven million lives. That’s more than died in the Second World War,” he said. “So, is the UN dead? Tell that to the relatives and the friends of the hundreds of our colleagues who died saving lives this year. Tell that to the 87 million lives that we will set out to save next year.”
