UN News

Myanmar: UN rights chief warns of pre-election violence and repression DR Congo: WFP aims to reach thousands displaced by South Kivu violence Humanitarian funding cuts impact drought response in Somalia 

Syria: Illicit “captagon” manufacturing disrupted following regime change UN mission supports landmark elections in the Central African Republic$880 million humanitarian appeal for Haiti

Sudan war: Kordofan's El-Obeid ‘one or two steps' away from being attacked - IOM Gaza: Famine is averted but a third child dies of hypothermia - UNICEF DR Congo crisis: Victims of flare-up in eastern regions risk lives to reach safety, says UNHCR 

António Guterres calls for de-escalation in YemenSudan war: UN Human Rights office puts spotlight on horrific violations, executionsVolker Türk alarmed by spiralling Thai-Cambodia conflict and impact on civilians

Concerns grow for Ukrainians in cities left without power for days: OCHAKey water pipeline repaired in Gaza, but dire conditions remain: OCHA ‘High or very high' levels of early season influenza sweeping across Europe: WHO

Afghanistan: mothers turned away at health centres amid dire funding cuts, warns WFPDR Congo violence pushes 500,000 from their homes: UNHCRNew influenza variant is surging, but vaccination still our best bet: WHO

UN Secretary-General condemns deadly attack on Hannukah celebration in SydneyAmid “unending atrocities” around world, @Refugees chief Filippo Grandi reaffirms solidarity with asylum seekersUkraine: Aid teams provide relief after another weekend of Russian strikes on vital infrastructure - OCHA

Sudan war: Aid teams report agreement reached to access stricken El Fasher, reports World Food Programme, WFPOccupied West Bank alert over ‘intense' Israeli raids, warns UN human rights office, OHCHRSri Lanka's cyclone Ditwah created ‘2.2 million stories of loss and resilience', says UN migration agency, IOM

Gaza: Aid teams push to step up support as rain and cold take hold UN aid teams have been responding to torrential rains and cold in Gaza by focusing on helping the most vulnerable people in the wartorn enclave. Newborns and people living in areas prone to flooding are most at risk but efforts are underway to boost the number of winter clothing kits for children. Speaking from Al Mawasi in Gaza, Jonathan Cricx from the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF, described how overnight downpours had soaked the clothes and mattresses of many living in makeshift tents:  “Those children, they're really suffering not only from the rain, but as well from the cold temperature. It's 6°C or 7°C in the Gaza Strip...What we are doing with UNICEF is we're trying to bring a lot of winter clothes…We also brought shoes. We brought 8,000 tents. We brought 600,000 blankets. But all this is far from being enough because we have more than 1.5 million people here who are in dire need for humanitarian aid.” Residents have been given empty flour sacks to fill with sand to keep rising waters at bay, while it's estimated that more than 760 displacement sites hosting about 850,000 people face the highest risk of flooding. Around 200 families living on the Gaza shoreline in high-risk areas were also being helped on Thursday to relocate to “what remains of Hamad city in eastern Khan Younis”, according to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA. Gaza's humanitarian crisis continues, however, as humanitarians report that a key water pipeline is now damaged and out of service. Until last week, Bani Suhaila Mekorot channel supplied around 16,000 cubic metres of drinking water per day to Khan Younis. Fear and uncertainty in DR Congo amid heavy fighting  Renewed heavy fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has killed scores of civilians and uprooted communities who've fled in fear. UN aid coordinators OCHA has warned of “intense” clashes multiple territories, including Uvira, Walungu, Mwenga and Kalehe.  So far, more than 200,000 people have been displaced across South Kivu; most are sheltering in unsafe and overcrowded sites where the risk of disease is high. With more details, here's Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Farhan Haq, speaking in New York on Wednesday: “The humanitarian impact of the crisis is now spilling across borders. Between December 5th and 8th, nearly 25,000 people crossed into Burundi, including Congolese nationals, Burundian returnees and third-country migrants – with additional arrivals also reported in Rwanda.”  The violence has disrupted aid assistance severely and forced the UN World Food Programme to suspend its activities across South Kivu. This has left 25,000 people without lifesaving food assistance, while host families share the last of their own reserves with displaced families, the agency said.  The UN's presence in DR Congo is limited; MONUSCO – the peacekeeping mission - is no longer deployed in South Kivu, while a Human Rights Council inquiry into serious abuses in the country has been left unstaffed because of dire funding shortfalls. Venezuela's national guard linked to serious abuses, rights investigators say To Venezuela, where investigators appointed by the Human Rights Council alleged on Thursday that the country's Bolivarian National Guard carried out a decade of systematic and serious violations, including crimes against humanity. In a new report, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela detailed evidence of what it called “systematic and coordinated repression”. According to the independent investigators, the national guard's actions appear to have been steered by a centralised command structure under President Nicolas Maduro.…

Gaza: continuing airstrikes, shelling and gunfire leave more dead and injured: UN human rights chiefUNICEF warns of deepening global crisis for childrenOn Human Rights Day 2025, credit for journalists risking everything to expose abuses

Gaza newborns ‘scarred by war before first breath' by preventable maternal malnutrition: UNICEFSudan: Dangerous ordeal of El Fasher's escapees is not over, warns UNFPASeven in 10 women activists have been abused online: UN Women

Sudan: WHO chief Tedros deplores 'senseless attacks' on civilians in South KordofanHumanitarians launch $33 billion appeal for 2026UNRWA condemns search of Jerusalem headquarters by Israeli officials

Syria one year after government change - UN rights office warns of ongoing killings and abuses Mozambique displacement crisis deepens as attacks intensify and aid supplies run low, UN reports South-East Asia: Climate disasters disrupt schooling for more than 4 million children, UNICEF says 

Sudan: UN rights chief Türk condemns spiralling conflict in KordofansMalaria control faces biggest threat from growing drug resistance: WHOArab region pushed to limits by climate extremes: WMO

Ukrainians brace for another winter of hardship amid Russian invasion: OCHAUN deminers appeal for greater support to slow deadly legacy from world's conflictsGaza: As fragile ceasefire holds, aid teams continue vital work, WHO says 

Mozambique: close to 100,000 flee violence and attacks in the past fortnight alone, warns UNHCRAsia: Lives upended by cyclones, ‘extreme' rainfall on the rise, warn UN agenciesMillions of jobs at risk in Asia-Pacific as AI surges in wealthy nations

• Landmine casualties hit four-year high as global ban faces withdrawals, new use and funding cuts• Sri Lanka: UN warns of severe humanitarian impact after Cyclone Ditwah triggers deadly flooding• Gaza: Winter conditions worsen as OCHA scales up relief under fragile ceasefire

Jenin: UN “appalled” by apparent summary execution in the West BankMyanmar: Civilians pressured to return to unsafe areas before junta electionMeasles: WHO warns cases surging worldwide despite major drop in deaths

Somalia declares drought emergency as hunger crisis deepens after failed rainsUkraine: more than 340 educational facilities damaged or destroyed this yearOver 600 million children exposed to violence at home, UNICEF warns

Palestine: UNCTAD reports deepest economic collapse ever recordedGaza's women face hunger, repeated displacement and rising disability crisis50,000 women and girls killed by partners or family in 2024: UNODC, UN WomenHuman trafficking: IOM launches global campaign urging stronger survivor support

UN human rights chief warns of risks from AI misuse, worker exploitation and rising corporate powerUkraine: UN notes civilian impact of Kharkiv strikesGaza: UN says aid missions denied and shelter conditions worsening under winter rainsMalaria: Gavi–UNICEF deal cuts vaccine price, set to protect millions more children

Gaza: Two children killed per day since ceasefire, says UNICEFBusiness must align with human rights standards, insists UN's Volker TürkIn Ukraine, not a day goes by without civilians coming under attack: OCHA

Ukraine: Spike in Russian attacks highlights need to extend refugee protections, says UNHCRWHO: European health sector fails nearly one in three survivors of gender-based violenceYouth Activists Summit celebrates hope over hate and ‘humanity over hostility'  

Gaza: ‘death of dignity' for displaced Palestinians, warns UNICEFUkraine reeling from another night of deadly Russian airstrikesWHO: AI can transform health care - but legal safeguards are needed

Gaza: UN chief welcomes Security Council resolution to end conflictWFP prioritizes feeding 110 million of the hungriest in 2026 as global hunger deepensLebanon: ongoing Israeli Blue Line violations prevent peace 

Gaza: UNDP supports clean-up operation Sahel displacement crisis has made four million people homeless: UNHCRWorld is getting closer to being free from cervical cancer: WHO

Sudan war: Aid teams call for urgent access to thousands trapped in El FasherUkraine: UN condemns latest deadly attack targeting civilians in Kyiv‘Mobs' target Palestinians in occupied West Bank, warns OHCHR

Gaza war's impact on children is damaging and long-lastingSudan war leaves families desperate and running out of time: UNHCR1.7 million children impacted by Super Typhoon Fund-wong, warns UNICEF

Sudan's Kordofan in grip of increasing killings and destruction, warns UN rights chief Türk   Gaza: UN aid agencies report fuel boost despite delivery obstacles  Mountain vipers and Galapagos iguanas in rare company at key CITES wildlife talks  

Gaza: vaccination campaign begins as immunisation rate drops below critical threshold, warns UNICEFSudan: Harrowing testimony from El Fasher survivors highlight scale of needs – UN gender equality agencyAll credit to a new FAO-backed lending initiative for small-scale farmers in the Sahara and beyond

COP30 opens in Belem; UN chief Guterres stresses commitment to 1.5C limitExtreme weather driving repeated displacement among conflict-affected communities: UNHCRCountries agree to global ban on mercury dental fillings: UNEP

West Bank settler violence must end with accountability: Rights OfficeDR Congo hunger crisis worsening amid ongoing fighting: WFPHollywood's Orlando Bloom highlights plight of Myanmar's Rohingya: UNICEF

With half the world's population under 30, sidelining young people is no longer an option. That's according to UN Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs, Felipe Paullier, who champions the determination and creativity of the world's youth.He's been at the World Summit for Social Development in Doha this week, issuing a strong call to action and urging world leaders to put young people at the heart of decision-making.In an interview with UN News's Abdelmonem Makki, he said that real progress means making space, so young people have a main seat at the table: “They're not waiting for us,” he adds, “they're finding solutions.” 

UN chief urges world leaders to drive down global warmingBrazil launches major fund to protect tropical forestsAfghanistan's opium output drops but synthetic drugs on the rise

In Gaza, a vaccination campaign for 44,000 children beginsSouth Sudan faces famine if conflict persists: FAO, WFPWorld's forests face ‘critical threat', UNECE report finds

Sudan: UN chief calls for immediate ceasefireGaza: Hunger and exhaustion continue to delay enclave's recoverySyria healthcare hit by dire funding shortages 

Bringing aid to remote communities affected by a category 5 hurricane which swept across Jamaica last week remains the priority according to the World Food Programme (WFP).Hurricane Melissa made landfall in the west of the Caribbean island nation, bringing rain, storm surges and catastrophic flooding which has caused widespread devastation.UN News's Charlotte Frantz, spoke to WFP's Alexis Masciarelli who is currently in the Jamaican capital, Kingston, and began by asking him about the immediate needs of people in the hurricane's path.

Afghans wake up to another deadly quake: OCHA, FAOGaza: dozens of newly trained midwives deploy in shattered enclave: UNFPAWHO urges urgent action as global health funding plunges up to 40 per cent

US attacks in Caribbean and Pacific violated international law: UN human rights chiefFact-Finding Mission in Iran alarmed by surge in repression and spike in executionsCivilian casualties in Ukraine up by a third since last year

Security Council briefed on ‘simply horrifying' conditions in Sudan's El FasherRussian forces launch massive overnight strikes on Ukraine's energy facilitiesUN experts warn of rights violations in Nicaragua, urge protection for exiled citizens

No child safe in Sudan's El Fasher, warns UNICEFTürk calls for full implementation of Gaza ceasefire, amid overnight killings‘Yawning gap' remains between climate adaptation needs and pledges

UN climate chief says action to end the crisis is still too slow, but it's moving in the right directionWidespread killings and indiscriminate violence reported by refugees fleeing El Fasher in SudanTaliban's 48-hour communication blackout in Afghanistan violated human rights, according to the UN human rights office

As airstrikes and conflict continue to devastate communities across Ukraine, the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF, is raising urgent concerns about the mental health and well-being of the country's children.Kenan Madi, Chief of Field Operations for UNICEF in Ukraine, warns that the war is leaving thousands of children without homes, heat, power, or access to basic services, making everyday life “extremely difficult.”Education has also been severely disrupted.Despite ongoing efforts, UNICEF's appeal for Ukraine remains only partially funded, leaving millions of children at risk as another harsh winter looms.UN News's Nargiz Shekinskaya started by asking Mr. Madi what are the main needs of the children living on the frontlines of the conflict. 

One in three organizations have suspended or shut down programmes aimed at ending violence against womenUN alarmed by ‘terrifying' situation in Sudan's El FasherUN chief calls for stronger ASEAN-UN partnership to tackle global challenges

UN chief calls for urgent Security Council reformGaza: opening all crossings is ‘critical', UN health agency calls for more accessForty migrants, including children, perish in Tunisia shipwreck warns of growing dangers on sea routes

Gaza: international community to build on current ceasefire toward a comprehensive agreement or risk insecurity and violence.Sudan: UN agencies call for immediate action to address the escalating humanitarian crisis there.Green light for Gang Suppression Force tells Haitians ‘they are not alone', Security Council hears

Climate science and early warnings key to saving livesGaza: children are in urgent need of safety; humanitarians ramp up assistanceDecade of slowing deforestation offers hope for forests