UN Releases US$160 Million for 12 Crises, Cuba Included
HUMANITARIAN · CUBA
Key Facts
- —The country Cuba, the Caribbean island hit by repeated grid failures and by Hurricane Melissa, which struck its eastern provinces in late 2025, according to CERF records.
- —What happened On 2 October 2026 the UN released US$160 million from its emergency fund for 12 underfunded crises. Cuba’s share is US$4 million, according to the UN aid office OCHA.
- —The numbers US$150 million is split by country, from US$18 million each for Afghanistan, Yemen and the Palestinian territory down to Cuba. A further US$10 million targets people with disabilities.
- —What it means for you The money goes to UN agencies and partners for life-saving aid, not to the Cuban state budget. It marks Cuba as one of the most neglected crises this year.
- —Still open Which agencies, sectors and provinces in Cuba will receive the US$4 million. As of 3 October the fund had not published its Cuba project list.
The United Nations released US$160 million on Friday 2 October for 12 of the world’s most underfunded humanitarian crises. Cuba is on the list, with US$4 million, the smallest country share.
The money comes from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the UN’s global emergency pool. It is run by OCHA, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which announced the grants on Friday.
How the US$160 million is split
Of the total, US$150 million goes to country responses in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Afghanistan, Yemen and the Occupied Palestinian Territory get US$18 million each.
Somalia and Sudan receive US$16 million each and South Sudan US$15 million, OCHA said. Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger get US$10 million each, Chad US$9 million and Cameroon US$6 million.
The remaining US$10 million is for people with disabilities across the same 12 crises. A separate UN Global Disability Fund will add up to US$4 million in support.
The release brings CERF’s allocations so far in 2026 to US$483 million, against an annual target of US$1 billion. UN News carried the same country figures.
What the UN relief chief said
“We have 87 million people to reach, and no time to waste,” said Tom Fletcher, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator. He added that “money alone won’t get us there” without political will to open access.
UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric repeated the figures at his daily briefing, 14ymedio reported, citing the EFE news agency. Five of the 12 crises, not including Cuba, are on Fletcher’s list of places needing urgent diplomacy for access.
Why Cuba appears on the list
OCHA did not explain Cuba’s selection in its release. It said underfunded allocations rest on more than 100 humanitarian indicators and wide consultation with partners.
Long blackouts and fuel shortages continue, as in Cuba’s Cheap Synthetic Drug Spreads Among the Young as Blackouts Grind On. CERF’s own records list earlier Cuba grants only under its rapid-response window, mostly after hurricanes.
Those include US$3.5 million approved after Hurricane Melissa in November 2025 and US$6 million after Hurricane Rafael in 2024. The new grant comes through the window for neglected, underfunded emergencies instead.
Getting aid onto the island
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez met Fletcher during the UN General Assembly on Monday 28 September, 14ymedio reported. He said some UN aid sits among more than 7,000 containers that Havana says cannot reach Cuba.
Havana blames US pressure on shipping lines, a claim not independently confirmed. The two governments clashed at that Assembly: Trump Predicts Cuba Deal Without Military Force as Havana Rebukes US at UN.
There are signs of easing. Deputy Prime Minister Óscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga said French line CMA CGM had resumed deliveries of food, medicine and medical supplies, 14ymedio reported.
What Is Not Yet Known
CERF had not published Cuba’s project list as of 3 October, so the agencies, sectors and provinces are unknown. The number of people the US$4 million will reach is also not stated.
It is unclear how quickly supplies bought with the grant can arrive. In late August the UN team in Cuba said it had flown in aid, with higher costs and delays, 14ymedio reported.
Sources: UN OCHA, “UN releases $160 million to save lives in 12 underfunded humanitarian crises”, 2 October 2026; UN News, 2 October 2026; CERF allocation records for Cuba, 2008–2025; 14ymedio (EFE), 3 October 2026; 14ymedio, 29 September 2026.
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