European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as the 81st UN General Assembly High Level Week closed in New York, announced almost €710 million in EU support for displaced people and communities in Sub-Saharan Africa, plus emergency assistance for people affected by crises worldwide. The announcement was made as part of international advocacy organisation Global Citizen's campaign.
EU Commissioner Lahbib addressed the UN General Assembly on Haiti, noting that children are being recruited by gangs, families are trapped behind walls of violence, and humanitarian workers risk their lives to reach people in need. Since 1994, the EU has provided close to €600 million in humanitarian aid to Haiti, making it the largest recipient of EU humanitarian assistance in Latin America and the Caribbean. This year alone, EU support amounts to €23 million, with an additional €10 million for the Haitian National Police and the Gang Suppression Force.
European Commission Commissioner Šuica confirmed at the UNRWA ministerial meeting that the Commission has disbursed the entirety of its €82 million contribution to UNRWA's 2026 budget, on top of €18.6 million in humanitarian funding already provided this year across Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. She said 6 million Palestinian refugees depend on UNRWA, and described the demolition of UNRWA's East Jerusalem headquarters and the forced evacuation of the Kalandia Training Centre as unacceptable.
An EU Commissioner delivered opening remarks at a high-level ministerial policy dialogue in New York, setting out the EU's development investment approach amid multiple crises. The speech noted that Lebanon is advancing reforms while over one million people are displaced, Syria is trying to recover from more than a decade of civil war, and Gaza remains in limbo, with populations needing essential services such as schools, sanitation, housing, food and water. The EU aims to combine humanitarian support with early recovery and longer-term development, and announced an additional EUR 505 million adopted this summer for Lebanon's reforms, recovery and stability, on top of a previous EUR 500 mil…
The European Commission signed two flagship Gaza early recovery contracts in New York. The "Gaza Water and Wastewater Early Recovery" project with UNICEF will provide improved water and sanitation for approximately 1 million people in Gaza, while the project with UNDP focuses on waste collection, waste transfer and a recycling pilot. The Commissioner said these are a first step under the Team Gaza Initiative, which raised almost 1 billion dollars for the people of Gaza at the Palestine Donor Group meeting last July. The projects are aligned with the Board of Peace, NCAG and the Palestinian Authority, with clear commitments from Israel to facilitate them.
EU Commissioner Lahbib made her first visit to Moldova, noting the country has taken in more than two million people since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and still hosts around 140,000 Ukrainian refugees. The EU has provided over €93 million in humanitarian aid since 2022, but with the Refugee Response Plan ending this year, support is shifting from emergency relief to long-term inclusion in national systems. Moldova also deployed around 50 firefighters to Greece and hosted Ukraine's aerial firefighting capacities.
EU Commissioner Lahbib addressed the Romanian Parliament on 10 September 2026, covering her portfolio of equality, preparedness and crisis management, and humanitarian aid. She noted Romania's female employment rate is nearly 19 percentage points lower than men's, widening to nearly 27 points in rural areas, and that Romania has built 110 new nurseries with EU recovery funds. On preparedness, the EU has proposed a new Union Civil Protection Mechanism regulation and adopted strategies on stockpiling, medical countermeasures, water resilience and a comprehensive wildfire plan. Romania requested Civil Protection Mechanism help ten times over the past decade while assisting other countries 49 t…