Published on: 2026-04-02
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The Middle East crisis has been ongoing for the second month, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned of an increasing “scale of destruction.” According to him, the world stands on the brink of a major war that could engulf the entire region and lead to catastrophic consequences on a global scale.
“This conflict is already felt everywhere. It is enough to look at the consequences of the erosion of judicial freedom… We see this in the everyday lives of people who have faced rising prices for food and fuel — in the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Mozambique, and far beyond its borders,” the UN chief said.
“Choose dialogue, not destruction”
Speaking before journalists at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday, Guterres recalled diplomatic efforts aimed at “seeking a peaceful way out of the crisis.”
“I support close contact with all parties and am sending my personal envoy Jean Arnaud to the region to facilitate this work,” he emphasized.
The Secretary-General once again called on the United States and Israel to stop the war, and on Iran to cease attacks on neighboring countries.
“Conflicts do not resolve themselves. They end only when leaders choose dialogue instead of destruction. This choice is still possible. And it must be made immediately,” he concluded.
The crisis may cause hunger worldwide
In the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), they warned that disruptions in supplies through the Strait of Hormuz have caused a sharp surge in food prices worldwide.
According to forecasts by WFP experts, if the crisis prolongs, the number of people facing acute food insecurity this year could increase by 45 million – up to 363 million people.
In addition, the WFP states that it cannot carry out humanitarian operations at full capacity due to disruptions in aid deliveries through the Strait of Hormuz. About 70 thousand tons of food are stuck on ships that currently cannot leave the ports.
WTO: the deepest crisis in the field of trade
World trade has turned out to be under the pressure of a “truly deep crisis,” said the head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at a meeting with finance ministers of African countries in Morocco.
“In addition to one-sided tariffs, governments are trying to navigate between geopolitical tensions…, the climate crisis, and rapid changes in technology. And all this happened even before the war in Iran destabilized trade in energy carriers, fertilizers, and chemicals,” reported Okonjo-Iweala.
Despite the fact that “free” trade has helped eliminate extreme poverty for 1.5 billion people over the past decades, “the African continent did not receive any obvious benefits from this,” the head of the WTO emphasized at a conference in Tangier.
CTO is not part of the UN system, but cooperates with it within the framework of shared interests in promoting a world order based on rules.
WHO warns about health threats to the population in the Middle East
Against the backdrop of war, diseases that were previously effectively prevented are again erupting throughout the region. The World Health Organization (WHO) issued this warning.
According to the regional director of the WHO for the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean, Hanan Balkhy, the number of infectious disease cases, including influenza, chickenpox, and sexually transmitted diseases, is increasing.
The war has affected almost two dozen countries, making the region’s population extremely vulnerable to epidemics. The WHO situation report notes a “colossal strain” on medical institutions in Iran and Lebanon.
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