In an alert, the United Nations’ World Health Organization, WHO, warned that Cuban hospitals are struggling to maintain emergency and critical care services.
“Thousands of surgeries have been delayed over the past month and people who need care … have been put at risk by the lack of electricity available for medical equipment,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Health care should be protected
He stressed that “health must be protected at all costs and never at the mercy of geopolitics, energy blackouts and power outages”.
This latest crisis for Cuba follows Hurricane Melissa last October, which affected more than 2.2 million people across the island nation.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Aid, OCHA, has launched a review of a $94 million action plan to address the worsening humanitarian impact of severe oil shortages.
Since January, a drop in oil imports has disrupted essential services. The new plan aims to support two million people – about one in five Cubans – and now covers almost half the country. To date, $26 million has been secured, leaving a $68 million funding gap.
The response prioritizes maintaining essential services and life-saving supply chains, with a focus on health, water, food security and education, along with alternative energy solutions. Access to fuel is critical to adaptation.
Haiti’s ‘violence’ is now in crisis
According to the United Nations, the Human Rights Council on Thursday investigated the escalating crisis in Haiti, as gangs attack and starve the Caribbean island’s people.
Figures from the United Nations Human Rights Office, OHCHR, show that between March 1, 2025 and January 15, 2026, at least 5,500 people were killed and 2,600 injured in mass violence.
In a recent report, the council heard that 65 percent of those casualties occurred during operations by security forces against gang members. More than one in five victims – including children – were shot by street bullets in their homes or on the streets.
The latest indications are that the group controls most of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and they are expanding outside of it and moving north into the Artebonite and Center departments.
People displaced by the violence in Haiti wait in line at an aid distribution point.
Armed disaster
The state of emergency was “created by weapons,” said the Deputy High Commissioner, Ms. Al-Nashif, who described the “wave of violence” and called on all governments to fully implement the Security Council’s arms embargo and stop the supply of arms and ammunition to Haiti.
“They kill, abduct, beat and burn the bodies of anyone. This includes those who resist the violence and those who cooperate with the police,” Ms. Al-Nashif said.
She cited significant evidence that the gangs are forcing children to carry out targeted killings, rapes and kidnappings, as well as surveillance and extortion of security forces.
The violence has displaced more than a million people internally. Thousands more have been displaced in recent weeks.
Dozens of people are missing in the sinking of the ship in Djibouti
At least nine migrants have died and 45 are missing after a boat capsized off the coast of Djibouti, the United Nations Migration Agency (IOM) reported on Thursday.
The ship, believed to have more than 300 people on board, sank on March 24 while trying to cross the Bab al-Mandab Strait to Yemen. Rescuers said most of the plane was Ethiopian citizens seeking better opportunities in the Gulf countries.
“Every life lost at sea is one more,” said Tanja Pasifko, IOM’s chief of mission in Djibouti, warning that the tragedy could be “the first of many this year” as strong seasonal winds and rough seas develop.
So far, the bodies of six men and three women have been recovered, while more than 120 survivors are receiving assistance at the refugee response center in Ubak. Support includes food, shelter, health care and psychosocial services.
A search and rescue operation is underway under the leadership of Djibouti authorities.
Refugees and immigrants, essential contributors
The United Nations health agency WHO released a new report on Thursday that points out that refugees and migrants are more than just recipients of care, “they are essential contributors to our health systems and communities.”
WHO added that when their health and inclusion are supported by host communities, we can all build stronger, fairer and more resilient societies. Find out more here.
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