UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday urged UN member states to contribute to the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to "keep hope alive for millions of people who depend on us".
While CERF is the world body's flexible, first-responder fund, the humanitarian system's tank is "running on empty, with millions of lives hanging in the balance", said the UN chief at the high-level pledging event on the central emergency response fund 2026. According to the UN chief, since its establishment in 2006, CERF has provided nearly 10 billion U.S. dollars in life-saving assistance to more than 100 countries and regions, working with over 20 UN agencies and hundreds of partners and reaching tens of millions of people every year.
However, Guterres warned the sharp decline in member state contributions in 2025, which will severely weaken the UN's humanitarian response capacity.
"This year's projected contributions are expected to be the lowest since 2015, a dangerous trend that weakens our ability to respond. As a result, countless more people have died, others have gone hungry, or been left without health services, shelter and protection," said the UN chief.
Guterres stressed that the international community has made the promise that "when disaster strikes, help will come" when creating the CERF 20 years ago, and called on member countries to "keep hope alive" for millions of people.
According to the Global Humanitarian Overview 2026 released on Monday, the United Nations plans to aid 87 million of the most vulnerable people next year, which is expected to require 23 billion U.S. dollars.
UN chief urges member states to contribute to UN emergency response fund
UN chief urges member states to contribute to UN emergency response fund
The 2025 Intelligent Robot Competition concluded in Beijing on Tuesday after shining the spotlight on how robotic technology can help improve daily lives and play a key role in assisting with elderly care in the near future.
The two-month event consisted of three main categories which showcased robots' potential in performing emergency rescue work, helping with rehabilitation and elderly care, and an all-round innovation section which demonstrated the latest breakthroughs in China's intelligent robot sector.
It highlighted the progress being made in the fast-evolving robotics field, including in advanced autonomous technology, the diversification across multiple scenarios, and the emphasis on human-centered services.
One of the stand-out attractions at the competition was an exoskeleton device that drew significant attention from visitors.
The wearable device helps to strengthen a user's physical movement with mechanical assistance, particularly through the legs, but unlike previous designs, this particular model is noteworthy as it can predict user's intentions via a brainwave receiver.
"Its secret lies in the integration of a brain-computer interface module. The system reads the user's brain signals and interprets their motor intentions, which, compared to traditional passive dragging training methods, can better promote neural function remodeling and enhance rehabilitation outcomes," said Wang Junpeng, one of its developers.
Meanwhile, the application of technology in performing simple household tasks is another area which shows how these robots could make a real difference in people's everyday lives. For many families concerned about elderly relatives, these robots could act as a friendly at-home assistant.
"We've designed it for handling frequently occurring scenarios, such as heating up food in an oven or picking up dropped items. Our aim is not to replace human with robots, but to help the elderly to gain a sense of independence and dignity in their lives," said Cai Wanru, a technician who worked on the mobile robot.
Robots specialized in rehabilitation work and elderly care are already moving out of the testing laboratories and into the real world to serve families and communities, but their widespread adoption still faces challenges such as high-costs and a lack of coordination across the industrial chain.
Insiders are hopeful that the just-concluded competition in Beijing will have played a part in pushing forward the industry.
"From this Intelligent Robot Competition, we can see that robots focused on rehabilitation and elderly care have been making significant progress in terms of innovation and practicality. They're expected to be better integrated into elderly life in the future," said Liang Xuexiu, deputy general manager of the robotics division under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)'s Software and Integrated Circuit Promotion Center.
China has become the world's largest robot producer, with data from the World Robot Conference held earlier this year showing that industrial robot output grew from 33,000 units in 2015 to 556,000 in 2024, while the country's service robot output reached nearly 10.52 million units last year, a more than 34 percent year-on-year increase.
Intelligent Robot Competition showcases future of robot-assisted elderly care
