UN News - Global perspective Human stories

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 lends a hand with projectSahel 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