This comes a day after at least 19 civilians were killed during a ground assault in the Jarjira area of North Darfur state, according to local reports. 

Another 10 civilians also were reportedly killed and nine injured in a drone attack that same day in Sinja, capital of Sennar state. 

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and military rivals the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been at war since April 2023, and people continue to flee their homes due to the violence. 

The International Organization for Migration estimated that on Friday, more than 8,000 people were displaced from villages in the locality of Kernoi, North Darfur state, with some fleeing within the state and others crossing into Chad. 

Since Sunday, 125 people were displaced from Kadugli, capital of South Kordofan state, while nearly 300 people fled Dilling due to heightened insecurity. 

Nutrition emergency in North Darfur state 

At the same time, a deepening nutrition emergency is unfolding in North Darfur state. UN child rights agency UNICEF and partners conducted a survey last month in three localities. 

It showed acute malnutrition levels far exceeding the 15 per cent emergency threshold set by the World Health Organization (WHO), with one location, Um Baru, having the highest global acute malnutrition rate of 53 per cent. 

OCHA reiterated its call on all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, respect international humanitarian law, and enable humanitarian access. 

Donors are being urged to scale up funding to deliver life-saving assistance. 

Syria: Thousands still displaced in Aleppo following recent clashes 

In other humanitarian news: 

Nearly 120,000 people remain displaced following recent hostilities in the Syrian city of Aleppo, while roughly 29,000 have returned to their homes. 

Deadly clashes resumed last week between troops from the transitional government and the mainly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) following a brief pause after the ceasefire announced in late December 2025. 

Access to the neighbourhoods of Ashrafiyeh and Ash-Sheik Maqsoud is gradually improving but is limited by the continued operations to clear explosive remnants, OCHA said.  

Public services, including the restoration of the water supply to approximately three million people following the reactivation of the Babiri water station, are gradually resuming. 

Schools still shut 

However, schools remain closed for an additional 15 days, and flights to and from Aleppo continue to be suspended.  

Humanitarians on the ground continue to provide shelter, health, nutrition, food and other aid while closely monitoring population movements.  

OCHA and partners also remain on standby to adjust and scale up response as required, amid ongoing access constraints and other challenges. 

$1.5 billion humanitarian appeal for South Sudan  

Humanitarians are seeking $1.5 billion to support 4.3 million people in South Sudan this year. 

The UN and partners launched the appeal, together with the Government, in the capital Juba on Tuesday.   

The priority is to raise $1 billion fast, to reach 4 million people.  

South Sudan is one of the most complex humanitarian crises in the world as conflict, climate shocks, disease outbreaks, deepening economic challenges – and the spillover from the war in neighbouring Sudan – continue to drive needs. 

It is estimated that 10 million people, roughly two-thirds of the population, will need humanitarian aid in 2026, with over 600,000 refugees among them. 

More than 7.5 million people are projected to face food insecurity during the lean season from April to July. 

Ketia and her husband are both teachers. Before Hurricane Melissa swept through the Caribbean this past October, they were able to support their three children. However, when, the storm struck, their coastal community of Petit Goâve was among the most affected.  

“I lost everything I owned: my furniture, my car, everything I had in my home,” lamented Ketia.

Ketia and her family are among approximately 225,000 people receiving assistance from the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in the wake of the storm. She is receiving assistance from a voucher system which allows families to purchase goods from selected retailers – a programme which supports those affected by the storm while also helping stimulate the local economy.  

“The shop is using an electronic system which records the transactions which are happening, and WFP pays the retailer,” explained Channon Hachandi, Head of Supply Chain for WFP Haiti. “It’s a good method to support affected families, because instead of going to receive assistance at a distribution, the recipient is acting like a normal shopper, going to the market.”  

Even before Hurricane Melissa, more than half of the residents in the most affected regions were already facing acute food insecurity, an indication of the acute humanitarian crisis that Haiti has been facing for many years.  

It is a good method to support affected families – instead of receiving assistance at a distribution, they are like a normal shopper at a market
– Channon Hachandi, WFP

The storm killed more than 40 Haitians, and many others lost their homes, businesses and belongings. In a region highly dependent on small-scale agriculture, there was widespread damage to farmland and a near total loss of harvests.  

WFP provided assistance before, during and after the hurricane. Together with the government, the agency sent 3.5 million early warning text messages via cellphones, and provided cash payments to people to help them prepare and mitigate the effect of the hurricane. 

During the storm itself families who relocated in temporary shelters were provided with rations. Immediately after, as families assessed the devastation, food rations for 15 days were distributed.  

To help the community rebound, the response has evolved, through provision of cash and vouchers thus giving families what WFP described as “the dignity of choice.” 

Right now, approximately 10 per cent of Haitians receiving assistance after Hurricane Melissa are benefitting from the voucher programme- an approach WFP aims to expand.

Wilfred Nkwambi, Head of Programmes at WFP in Haiti, emphasized that vouchers are more than simply a means of feeding people — they are a breath of fresh air for the local economy.  

“In this shop alone, the owner employs eight additional people for these distributions. In this part of Petit Goâve, there are five other shops, employing a total of 40 people, mostly women and young people. Not only is it good for the recipients, but also for the city’s merchants and local producers,” explained Mr. Nkwambi.

At the same time, WFP employs day labourers for logistics, generating additional income for local families. This approach benefits everyone, transforming aid into an engine for economic recovery.

Placing dignity and choice at the heart of intervention demonstrates humanitarian assistance can be synonymous with resilience for the Haitian people, according to WFP.

“Thanks to the food voucher distribution, we won’t go hungry in the coming weeks, and we have the chance to start rebuilding our lives,” said Ketia, as she loaded her groceries onto a motorcycle taxi and headed back to her family.  

Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo told ambassadors the start of 2026 had brought “no peace or even respite to Ukraine, but renewed fighting and devastation.”

“As temperatures plummet far below freezing, the Russian Federation has intensified its systematic attacks targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure,” she said, noting that the strikes had killed and injured scores of civilians and deprived millions of electricity, heating and water for prolonged periods.

The impact, she added, is felt most acutely by older people, children and those with limited mobility.

Drone and missile onslaught

Ms. DiCarlo cited a major overnight barrage between 8 and 9 January in which Russia reportedly launched 242 drones and 36 missiles.

In Kyiv, at least four people were reportedly killed and 25 injured, including a paramedic who died while responding to an earlier strike, reportedly hit by a so-called “double-tap” attack.

Nearly half of the capital was left without heating, and hundreds of thousands of residents were affected.

Energy and residential facilities were also damaged in western Lviv region, near the Polish border, where an intermediate-range ballistic missile known as “Oreshnik” was reportedly used for the second time since 2024.

The weapon is believed capable of carrying nuclear payloads, heightening international concern.

Ports and shipping have also come under attack. On 8 January, two foreign-flagged civilian vessels were struck by Russian drones in the Odesa region.

Two people were reportedly killed and eight injured in subsequent port attacks that damaged storage facilities and containers. Odesa was hit again on Sunday, in what Ms. DiCarlo described as a “concerning escalation” targeting Ukraine’s port infrastructure and commercial shipping.

Humanitarian consequences

The humanitarian impacts were outlined by Ramesh Rajasingham, Director of the Humanitarian Sector at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

He said large-scale strikes were pushing “the very means of winter survival to the brink,” as temperatures dropped to nearly minus 10 degrees Celsius.

“What makes these attacks especially devastating is that they cripple the systems that keep civilians alive during winter,” he said.

In Kryvyi Rih, families have been melting snow for washing and heating water over candles during prolonged power cuts.

In Kyiv, more than 1,200 heated safe spaces are operating, alongside 68 additional heating points set up by emergency services and humanitarian partners.

A wide view of the Security Council meeting.

Displacement continues

Civilians continue to flee frontline areas under dangerous conditions, particularly from the Donetsk region, with many arriving in safer areas needing shelter, medical care and winter assistance. Humanitarian access remains constrained.

According to UN estimates, 10.8 million people in Ukraine need humanitarian assistance.

On Tuesday, the UN and partners are set to launch a $2.31 billion humanitarian appeal for 2026 to support 4.12 million people facing the most severe needs.

Both officials reiterated that attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international humanitarian law. “They are unacceptable, unjustifiable, and must stop immediately,” Ms. DiCarlo said.

“Civilians who are enduring these attacks need more than statements of concern from this council. They need concrete action to reduce civilian harm and ensure that humanitarian support continues to reach people when they need it most,” Mr. Rajasingham added.

Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022, the UN and its partners have supported people in need in complement to the Government’s assistance, from city residents who continue to face repeated drone and missile strikes, to communities close to the frontline and other evacuated away from danger. 

“I am speaking of internally displaced people who’ve been in collective sites for two, three years; I’m speaking of older people and people with limited mobility,” said Matthias Schmale, the UN’s top aid official in Ukraine, outlining some of the priorities of Tuesday’s appeal. 

According to media reports and official information from the Ukrainian authorities, over the past week alone, Russian forces launched nearly 1,100 attack drones against Ukraine, more than 890 guided aerial bombs and at least 50 missiles of various types — including ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as an Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile targeting Lviv in western Ukraine, close to the Polish border.

In addition to providing core aid relief including food, health care, shelter, protection and cash assistance, other key aims of Tuesday’s funding appeal include supporting the evacuation of people in imminent danger – “heroic work near the front line”, Mr. Schmale said, of the hundreds of UN-supported partners who carry out this lifesaving work.

Frontline needs

He explained that funding is needed to assist civil society partners who respond to military strikes countrywide – but mainly within 50 kilometres of the front line –helping farmers trying to survive in a war zone, along with cancer patients whose access to medicines has been disrupted by attacks impacting healthcare.

“We want to continue supporting as best as we can [but] all of this needs funding,” Mr. Schmale said. He highlighted the “enormous civilian suffering” across Ukraine, particularly as communities endure temperatures plummeting to minus 15°C in Kyiv – “an emergency within an emergency” that will likely require further funding from the international community in addition to Tuesday’s appeal, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator noted. 

“We appeal in particular to the international community, to UN Member States, to other donors, to maintain their solidarity with Ukraine and to express that in the form of financial support for the work we plan to continue,” he said.

Speaking in Kyiv at the launch of the appeal, Mr. Schmale highlighted an update from the UN human rights monitoring team indicating that 2025 was the deadliest year for civilians since 2022, with more than 2,500 civilians killed and more than 12,000 injured.