UN agencies urge early action as El Niño intensifies and emergency funding is released
The World Meteorological Organization forecasts a potentially exceptional El Niño, while the UN says more than $50 million has been released to help 11 exposed countries prepare.
UN agencies appealed for immediate help on October 21 for communities already affected by El Niño, as the World Meteorological Organization forecast that the Pacific weather pattern could reach exceptional strength. UN News reported that the UN’s emergency relief chief had released more than $50 million for 11 countries facing the threat, making early preparations the focus of the appeal.
WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said the event could be ‘unprecedented in strength’ compared with four decades of monitoring. She expected it to peak toward the end of 2026, with effects continuing afterward. The agency’s seasonal outlook projects tropical Pacific sea-surface temperatures could rise to about 3.8°C above average between November 2026 and January 2027. That figure is a forecast of possible intensity, rather than a measured peak.
Where the UN says preparation is most urgent
UN emergency relief chief Tom Fletcher said the next two weeks would be critical to preventing a worsening humanitarian crisis. Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya urgently need funding and emergency supplies before heavy rains arrive, he said. In southern Africa, the priorities are delivering seeds and protecting livestock; in Central America, support is needed to protect livelihoods. Countries across Asia and the Pacific have been urged to prepare for droughts, floods and cyclones.
Fletcher described the coming event as a ‘wrecking ball’ that could bring extreme heat, droughts and floods across Latin America, eastern and southern Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Euronews separately reported his warning that the humanitarian system could not cope with a threat of this scale alone and his call for governments and financial institutions to provide money before damage occurs.
Emergency funding for 11 countries
Fletcher said more than $50 million had been released from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund to support 11 countries. UN News named Chad, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan among them; Euronews also reported those five countries and the funding announcement. The announcement did not specify each country’s allocation.
Saulo called for urgent, coordinated action ahead of the expected peak. ‘We cannot stop El Nino, but we can prevent many of its worst human consequences,’ she said, according to Euronews. The appeal asks governments and aid agencies to act while there is still time to prepare communities exposed to the forecast weather shocks.
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Sources and context
- UN agencies appeal for help to protect weakest from unprecedented El NiñoUN News
- Global Seasonal Climate Update for November-December-January 2026World Meteorological Organization
- El Niño and humanitarian actionWorld Meteorological Organization
- UN warns El Nino could be strongest on recordEuronews
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.