Entire villages in the Republic of Congo have been affected by recent flooding, leaving more than 350,000 people in need of food, shelter, clothing and other basics.

People are living on top of their houses and some women are even giving birth in rafts, said Chris Mburu, UN Resident Coordinator the country, speaking to UN News’s Alexandre Carette in Geneva.

Mr. Mburu said the UN and partners are supporting the authorities to respond to the emergency as aid workers continue to try to reach survivors, amid immense difficulties. 

Emirati Hospital in southern Gaza is one of last functioning maternity facilities in all of Gaza where “there aren’t enough staff and not enough medicine” for women about to give birth, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Friday.

Amid ongoing active conflict that has killed tens of thousands, UNICEF is doing its utmost to help, by delivering essential relief supplies to health teams, formula milk, clothes and food for women too weak to breastfeed. 

But much more needs to be done to save lives - and ensure greater aid access to the enclave – said UNICEF’s Tess Ingram, who’s just back from a heartbreaking humanitarian mission to Rafah and Khan Younis.

Here she is speaking to UN News’s Daniel Johnson.

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Nine months ago, UN teams in Sudan were forced to evacuate from their headquarters in Khartoum, as heavy fighting between government and rebel forces raged in the capital.

The impact on the civilian population has been catastrophic, with half of the population in need of aid and more than seven million people forced to flee their homes. The security situation is so bad that humanitarian workers have been unable to bring aid to the areas worst hit by fighting.

Peter Kioy, the head of the UN migration agency, IOM, in Sudan, told Conor Lennon from UN News about his team’s perilous evacuation under fire, his fears of the fighting moving closer to the UN temporary bases and his frustration at being unable to reach those in desperate need of help.

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With only ‘one door’ open on Gaza’s southern border at Rafah, for aid to reach more than two million Gazans who need lifesaving aid, Israel must provide greater and more reasonable access, said the veteran humanitarian official who is the interim Resident Coordinator for the enclave, in an exclusive interview with UN News.

Jamie McGoldrick, who’s also serving as Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, told Ezzat El-Ferri on Saturday that better shelter, more food supplies, and repairs to water health and sanitation systems, are essential if famine and disease are to be kept at bay.

Read the interview here.

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