United Nations Developments on the Cholera Epidemic and the Crisis in Haiti

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the goal of ending cholera by 2030 remains achievable, while reporting that thousands of people have been displaced due to escalating armed violence in Haiti, and that the US human rights review has been postponed due to a lack of cooperation.

Dr. Lorenzo Pezzoli, the WHO's lead for epidemic diseases, told reporters in Geneva that last year was the deadliest for cholera since 1999, with approximately 7,900 deaths recorded. Most deaths occurred at the community level before patients could access health care, with Africa accounting for about 90 percent of these fatalities. It was stated that deaths decreased in the first nine months of 2026, yet more than 3,000 people continued to lose their lives, with approximately 90 percent of these individuals again located in Africa. Dr. Pezzoli said that patients can recover in places with clean water, basic sanitation, and a nearby health center, but the disease can become fatal within hours in crowded camps or villages cut off by conflicts. It was noted that the majority of cases were reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Yemen, Zambia, Nigeria, Somalia, and Djibouti, and that the WHO has provided 71 million doses of cholera vaccine to date.

On the other hand, Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, stated in New York on Tuesday that armed violence in Haiti's West Department has forced people to abandon their homes. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 5,900 people were displaced in attacks occurring in Arcahaie and Cabaret, northwest of Port-au-Prince, since the end of October. It was announced that approximately six million people, making up more than half of the population, are facing high levels of acute food insecurity, and according to UNICEF data, more than 250,000 children are projected to be affected by acute malnutrition between June of this year and May of next year.

Finally, the UN Human Rights Council expressed deep regret that the US government has avoided participating in the universal periodic review mechanism for the second time and failed to cooperate. It was announced that the review, originally scheduled for November 7, 2025, but postponed to Tuesday due to a lack of participation, was rescheduled to a later date upon another non-compliance by the US. The Council urged the US to continue cooperating with the review mechanism and decided to postpone the review to the next Working Group session between January 18 and 29, 2027.