World News in Brief: Winter aid for Gaza, West Bank; Haiti food production; migrant deaths at sea; human rights funding

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is seeking to raise $97.5 million to protect 540,000 children and their families in Gaza and the West Bank from harsh winter conditions in the coming months.

Nearly 84 per cent of Gaza’s population – more than 1.76 million people – live in overcrowded displacement sites or damaged shelters, leaving families vulnerable to freezing temperatures, heavy rain and flooding.

At least 11 children, including infants, in the Gaza Strip were reported to have died from hypothermia last winter.

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In the West Bank, violence, displacement, movement restrictions and a deepening financial crisis are further limiting vulnerable families’ ability to cope with winter shocks, UNICEF wrote in a press release.

The funding would allow UNICEF to provide more warm clothing, thermal blankets, digital cash assistance, emergency shelter reinforcements and tents. The agency will also work with partners to reduce flood and disease risks.

UNICEF is urging donors to provide flexible, timely funding so it can pre-position supplies before winter arrives.

Meanwhile, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Ramiz Alakbarov announced on Thursday that the UN’s aid agency (OCHA) will allocate $2 million to power health facilities in Gaza for four months.

FAO plants seeds of hope in Haiti

In the hills and plains of Haiti’s hardest-hit regions, families who have gone months eating whatever they could find are once again planting their own fields. 

Emergency support from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is reaching 13,000 vulnerable households – roughly 65,000 people – across 10 municipalities in Artibonite, Centre and Ouest, helping them restore local food production amid one of the world’s most severe hunger crises.

More than half of Haiti’s population faces acute food insecurity, driven by violence, economic collapse, broken supply chains and repeated climate shocks, according to FAO.

For many rural families, the FAO programme – funded with more than $16 million through a UN-managed pooled funding mechanism – is arriving at a critical moment. FAO said it will deliver more than 205 tonnes of crop and vegetable seeds and more than 160,000 small livestock to 326,000 vulnerable people.

“In humanitarian crises, emergency food production is a life-saving intervention that empowers vulnerable households to quickly produce food and reduce reliance on importations and repeated humanitarian assistance,” FAO Representative in Haiti Pierre Vauthier said.

Built by Haitians, for Haitians

Local communities are shaping the response by helping FAO identify those most in need and decide what support will help most.

“This emergency food production campaign demonstrates that investing in local capacities is one of the most effective ways to respond to the food crisis,” Mr. Vauthier said. “Implemented by Haitians for Haitians, it enables vulnerable households to rapidly produce their own nutritious food.”

A second phase will bring ducks, poultry, guinea fowls, rabbits and goats to more than 29,394 households, offering families a source of protein and a measure of self-sufficiency at the same time.

Mediterranean migrant deaths rise this year

Arrivals to Europe by sea have fallen sharply this year, but deaths and disappearances along Mediterranean migration routes have increased, according to new data from the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Nearly 60,000 migrants and refugees have reached Europe by sea so far in 2026, a 39 per cent decline from the same period last year. But at least 2,292 people have died or gone missing attempting the journey, up from 1,999 by the same time last year.

Arrivals in Italy from the Central Mediterranean route fell 55 per cent from 48,231 to 21,393, while deaths rose from 844 to 996. 

Increasingly desperate

On the Eastern Mediterranean route, arrivals in Greece fell by about 5,000, while deaths increased by 133. Spain also recorded fewer arrivals but maintained a similar number of deaths.

IOM Director General Amy Pope said the figures show migrants are taking increasingly dangerous journeys and called for greater international cooperation, including expanded safe and regular pathways.

The figures cover verified incidents through 15 September. IOM warned the true death toll is likely higher.

‘Entire’ human rights monitoring system risks crumbling: Türk

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The protection of human rights is a core founding principle of the UN, but a key part of this mission is on the verge of collapse because of funding cuts, High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council on Thursday.

“Today, I am very concerned that the entire human rights treaty body system is at risk of crumbling,” Mr. Türk said.

He cited funding cuts necessitating staff reductions, which has increased delays in processing requests for help, as well as the declining participation of Member States in reporting alleged violations.

Ten treaty body committees are based in Geneva, made up of independent experts who assess countries’ progress in implementing international accords or conventions, including on the elimination of racial discrimination and the promotion of children’s rights.

This is not the first time the High Commissioner has warned about a serious lack of funding for human rights work.

His appeal to Member States to fulfill their international obligations comes ahead of the publication of a report on the treaty body system by UN Secretary-General António Guterres next week during the UN General Assembly’s high-level week.