WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the Launch of WHO’s 2026 Health Emergency Appeal – 3 February 2026

Excellencies, Honourable Ministers, Ambassadors, dear partners, colleagues and friends,

Thank you for joining us for the launch of the WHO Health Emergency Appeal for 2026.

Around one quarter of a billion people are living through humanitarian crises that have stripped away safety, shelter and access to health care.

These are families displaced again and again;

Children growing up amid conflict;

Communities experiencing crisis after crisis with little opportunity to recover.

For millions of people, crisis is no longer an interruption to life.It has become the condition of life.

Health systems in fragile settings are under sustained strain. When they falter, the consequences are immediate and severe.

These pressures are unfolding in a global context that has changed.

Many governments face real fiscal constraints, and political attention is turning inward.

Resources are being redirected toward domestic priorities, including defence.

Global defence spending now exceeds US$ 2.5 trillion a year, while humanitarian and health financing is experiencing its sharpest decline in a decade.

The result is a widening gap between what people need and what the system can provide.

Nearly ten years ago, in the aftermath of Ebola, Member States created the WHO Health Emergencies Programme.

The purpose was clear: to protect lives during emergencies while strengthening national health systems, not bypassing them.

Since then, the Programme has reshaped how WHO works in crises.

It has enabled earlier detection of outbreaks and faster response to emergencies.

Last year, WHO responded to 50 emergencies across 82 countries and territories, supporting more than 30 million people with essential health services.

We helped keep thousands of health facilities functioning, and we sustained outbreak detection and response in fragile settings.

In recent months, we have stood with WHO teams and partners in some of the world's most fragile settings.

We have listened to families who have fled repeatedly.

We have spoken with health workers who continue their work under fire.

We have seen clinics destroyed, ambulances targeted and health workers killed.

We have seen patients turned away when medicines run out, and women forced to give birth in unsafe conditions.

Amid these pressures, one constant remains: health as a human right.

Health enables a child in Ukraine to keep learning because vaccines and mental health support are available.

It allows a mother in the occupied Palestinian territory to deliver safely in a temporary clinic.

It keeps cholera at bay in camps in Sudan.

It ensures that people living with diabetes in Yemen can survive displacement and loss.

In 2026, WHO is adapting its emergency response again.

We are applying the discipline of emergency medicine: focusing first on actions that save lives.

We are placing greater emphasis on country leadership and local partnerships.

We are concentrating on areas where WHO adds the greatest value and reducing duplication so that every dollar has maximum impact.

Today, WHO is appealing for US$ 1 billion to sustain its emergency operations in 2026.

These resources are needed to maintain essential health services, prevent outbreaks and support those delivering care in the hardest conditions.

Predictable and flexible funding allows WHO to act early and prevent emergencies from escalating at far greater human and financial cost.

This Appeal is a call to stand with people living through conflict, displacement and disaster.

It is a call to keep health at the heart of humanitarian action.

I thank you.