The UN’s emergency relief chief on Wednesday condemned the “$1 billion-a-day” cost of the war in the Middle East, at a time when humanitarian needs are soaring and aid funding is falling dangerously short.
Travelling more than 200 kilometres (124 miles) from Yambio, the capital of Western Equatoria State in southwestern South Sudan, a team of justice experts escorted by United Nations peacekeepers moved slowly along rough, dusty roads, determined to reach communities that have waited years for their day in court.
South Sudan was the focus of debate in the UN Human Rights Council on Friday as escalating violence and political tensions – alongside a massive humanitarian emergency and war in neighbouring Sudan – threaten efforts to achieve lasting peace.
Nearly three years of war in Sudan have been marked by killings, rape and other violations, with risk of genocidal violence spreading, the UN Human Rights Council heard on Thursday.
Funding shortfalls are putting the lives of more than 1.9 million displaced people in South Sudan at risk amid rising humanitarian needs, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday.
Fresh from holding the most extensive elections in its history, the Central African Republic (CAR) is entering what the UN’s top envoy in the country describes as a “decisive period” in consolidating fragile peace gains, even as security challenges persist and disarmament efforts continue.
Concerns have been raised about the “coercive” repatriation from Tanzania of Burundian refugees, many of whom do not want to return to their home country.
The number of people in Somalia facing acute food insecurity has nearly doubled to 6.5 million since last year as hunger levels rise due to worsening drought, conflict and soaring food prices.
Renewed fighting in South Sudan’s Jonglei state has displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians in recent weeks, damaged health facilities, fuelled the spread of cholera and prompting the UN relief chief to warn of a “perfect storm” of conflict, climate shocks and deprivation.
Nearly three years into Sudan’s war, violence is intensifying, famine conditions are looming in parts of the country, and civilians remain trapped between shifting front lines, senior UN political and humanitarian officials told the Security Council on Thursday, warning that the risk of further mass atrocities remains alarmingly high.
The UN Security Council meets this morning to discuss Sudan as the war nears its third year, with fighting intensifying across multiple regions and civilians facing deepening humanitarian catastrophe. Senior UN political and humanitarian officials are expected to brief ministers on a conflict marked by shifting front lines, advanced weaponry and widespread displacement. The meeting comes amid fresh warnings that atrocities in Darfur, including acts bearing the “hallmarks of genocide” in El Fasher, signal a dangerous escalation. Follow the live coverage below, UN News App users click here.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out ethnically targeted killings, widespread sexual violence and enforced disappearances during their late-October takeover of El Fasher in Sudan’s Darfur region — acts that a UN fact-finding mission said show “hallmarks of genocide” against the Zaghawa and Fur communities and signal an ongoing risk of further atrocities.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on Wednesday for warring parties in Sudan to take urgent steps to protect civilians after at least 57 people were killed in separate drone strikes over two days this week.
Libya’s prolonged political stalemate, worsening economic conditions and an emerging split within the judiciary pose mounting risks to the country’s unity, the UN’s top envoy for the country, Hanna Serwaa Tetteh, told the Security Council on Wednesday.
Migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers in Libya are enduring ruthless and systematic human rights violations, including killings, torture, sexual violence and trafficking, according to a new report published today by the UN human rights office, OHCHR.
As the war in Sudan approaches a fourth year, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and 123 partners appealed on Tuesday for $1.6 billion to support millions of people forced to flee the country in pursuit of safety.
The Tawila camp for internally displaced in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region is home to more than half a million people who live in makeshift huts of sticks, hay and plastic sheeting.
Calling for sweeping reforms of global institutions, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told African leaders on Saturday that the absence of permanent African seats on the Security Council is “indefensible,” declaring: “This is 2026 – not 1946.”
Paramilitary forces in Sudan unleashed “a wave of intense violence…shocking in its scale and brutality” during their final offensive to capture the besieged city of El Fasher last October, committing atrocities that amount to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, according to a report released on Friday by the UN human rights office, OHCHR.
Some 10 days after Tropical Cyclone Fytia brought heavy rains and flooding to Madagascar, Cyclone Gezani has left the island’s main port in ruins, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.
Escalating aerial attacks in Sudan are killing children, damaging schools and striking United Nations facilities, placing civilians and humanitarian workers at growing risk, the UN warned on Wednesday.
Escalating violence, political stalemate and humanitarian constraints are pushing South Sudan’s civilians to the brink once again, while funding cuts weaken the UN mission tasked with protecting them.
Relentless violence, famine and disease are fuelling a rising death toll among children in Sudan, while attacks on healthcare and a lack of aid access hamper efforts to help them, UN aid agencies warned on Tuesday.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk appealed on Tuesday to all parties involved in renewed heavy fighting in Ethiopia’s ‘precarious’ Tigray region to step back, warning of the potential for a deepening crisis in the country’s war-weary north and beyond.
South Africa has moved to withdraw its peacekeepers deployed at the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) after nearly three decades of service.
As the brutal Sudan war shows no signs of ending, UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Monday called on the international community to intervene immediately to stop more mass killings and other flagrant war crimes against civilians.
Fifty-three migrants including two babies are dead or missing after a large rubber dinghy capsized off the coast of Libya, the UN migration agency said on Monday.
The UN Secretary-General has strongly condemned the surge in violence across South Sudan, warning that civilians and aid workers are paying a devastating price as humanitarian operations are increasingly targeted.
Amid the ongoing war in Sudan, Chad, the country receiving the most refugees in Central Africa, saw slight improvements in its humanitarian situation last year, but as one of the most vulnerable nations on the African continent, it is still struggling to support four million people in need.
The United Nations has welcomed signs of progress in talks aimed at reducing violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.