The Council sanctioned additional 5 persons and 4 entities responsible for actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.
World News in Brief: Food insecurity triples, Mozambique aid boost, Uganda elections alert
FAO aims to support more than 100 million people in 54 countries by the end of 2026, with a funding goal of $2.5 billion.
The agency is pushing for a more targeted and responsive approach, prioritising what matters most, sequencing interventions effectively, and centring efforts on the practical solutions farmers are calling for, in line with Members’ priorities.
Around 80 per cent of people facing acute food insecurity live in rural areas, relying on farming, herding, fishing or forestry.
Yet only five per cent of humanitarian food-sector funding supports agricultural livelihoods, a persistent imbalance that traps families in a cycle of crisis and dependence, the agency said.
With an emphasis on anticipatory action and rapid emergency agricultural assistance, FAO is seeking:
• $1.5 billion for life-saving emergency support to 60 million people, including seeds, tools, livestock health, livelihood recovery and cash assistance.
• $1 billion for resilience programmes reaching 43 million people, focusing on climate-smart agrifood solutions, water systems, markets and ecosystem restoration.
• $70 million for global services to strengthen data, early warning, anticipatory action and coordination across the humanitarian–development–peace nexus.
UN scales up life-saving aid for 120,000 displaced in Mozambique
The UN has increased life-saving assistance for 120,000 people displaced by escalating violence in Mozambique’s Nampula province.
Under the direction of Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher, $6 million has been allocated from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support the response.
Violence that began in 2017 in Cabo Delgado has already displaced more than 1.3 million people. “The situation has sharply worsened since mid-November as conflict spreads,” said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.
Overcrowded and vulnerable
More than two-thirds of the 100,000 people who have fled in the past two weeks are sheltering in overcrowded schools, makeshift structures, open spaces or with already vulnerable host families, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
People lack adequate shelter and have limited access to safe water, healthcare, protection and sanitation services, while a cholera outbreak continues to spread, Mr. Dujarric added.
CERF funding will prioritise water, sanitation and hygiene services for people in the Erati and Memba districts, along with essential household items, shelter, protection and livelihood support.
Uganda’s upcoming elections marked by arrests and repression
At least 550 people, including members of Uganda’s main opposition party, have been arrested or detained ahead of January’s elections, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) reported on Wednesday.
OHCHR said heavily armed security forces have been deployed to areas where rallies of the National Unity Platform (NUP) are planned. Last week, officers reportedly used live ammunition in the eastern town of Iganga, killing at least one person and injuring at least three others.
“It is deeply regrettable that election campaigns have once again been marked by widespread arbitrary arrests, detentions and the use of unnecessary or disproportionate force against the opposition, as well as undue restriction of press freedom,” said UN human rights chief Volker Türk.
Opposition held in isolation
Reports of enforced disappearance and torture of NUP supporters have increased over the past year, OHCHR warned.
Security forces are accused of using unmarked minibuses known as “drones” to take people to unofficial detention sites or “safe houses”, where they are allegedly held incommunicado.
Earlier this year, the head of the military posted on X that he was holding the bodyguard of the NUP leader in his “basement”.
Following a public outcry, the bodyguard was later presented in court, visibly shaking and showing other signs of physical abuse.
Mr. Türk urged the authorities to investigate all allegations of ill-treatment fully and impartially.
OHCHR added that at least 32 journalists and media workers were assaulted or had their equipment confiscated by security personnel during a parliamentary by-election in March.
Sudan war: Aid teams say deal struck to reach stricken El Fasher
The essentials for survival in the town which was overrun by paramilitary fighters in October have been “completely obliterated”, UN humanitarians warned on Friday.
“The little that’s known at the moment about the current conditions in El Fasher is indeed beyond horrific,” said Ross Smith, Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response for the World Food Programme (WFP). “We know that there’s anywhere between 70 and 100,000 people potentially remaining trapped inside the city itself.”
Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces fighters who have been at war with the Sudanese army since April 2023 overran El Fasher – the regional capital of North Darfur – in October, after a 500-day siege.
That ordeal reduced people to eating peanut shells and animal feed, the UN human rights office warned at the time, while satellite footage indicated bloodstains from mass killings of civilians and executions based on ethnicity.
UN condemns deadly drone strike
The Secretary-General António Guterres expressed alarm on Friday over reports that at least 30 civilians were killed, with many others injured, in a drone strike in South Darfur State on Monday.
He once again condemned all attacks on civilians and demanded that parties abide by their obligation under international law, the UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told journalists on Friday.
Calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities and resumption of talks, Mr. Guterres further reiterated his call on countries with influence over combatants to compel an immediate halt to the fighting and stop the flow of arms.
Access agreement
Securing access for aid teams remains an urgent priority, humanitarian agencies insist, amid network blackouts that have largely cut off communication with those remaining inside El Fasher.
Testimonies from survivors “describe the city as a crime scene with mass killings, with burnt bodies, with abandoned markets”, Mr. Smith explained.
“We are calling for and we’ve continued to call for unimpeded access into El Fasher to urgently respond to those that remain trapped in the city,” the WFP official stressed.
“I understand from discussions yesterday that we have agreement in principle with the Rapid Support Forces for a set of minimum conditions to enter the city; so, we anticipate to be able to do that very soon, to do some initial assessments and reconnaissance. After more than a year and a half under siege, the essentials for survival have been completely obliterated.”
Desert town becomes ‘massive’ IDP camp
Mr. Smith noted that those who have managed to flee El Fasher have risked their lives along roads “littered with mines” and unexploded ordnance.
Many have reached shelter in Tawila – until recently a small desert town but which is now “a sprawling, massive displacement settlement” for more than 650,000 people, which is equivalent to the size of Luxembourg. Others have sought safety in Ad Dabbah in Northern State.
As UN aid teams and partners continue to push for access to all those in need, WFP-supported convoys are “en route to Tawila now, with enough for 700,000 people for the next month”, Mr. Smith said.
“These are families that have endured famine for many months on end and mass atrocities and are now living in overcrowded conditions with very limited support. There’s not enough shelter for people, many are staying in very makeshift structures: grass, straw structures, et cetera. Cholera and disease outbreak is widespread.”
12 million people displaced
Sudan is the world’s largest displacement crisis with more than 12 million people uprooted inside and outside the country.
Meanwhile, a worrying update from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, on Friday confirmed that the security situation in nearby Kordofan has deteriorated further since 1 December.
After a week of heavy fighting, the RSF reportedly seized control of a Sudanese Armed Forces base in Babanusa, West Kordofan.
In South Kordofan, “civilians remain trapped in besieged cities such as Kadugli and Dilling, and as women, children, and the elderly find ways to escape, men and youth are often left behind due to specific high risks they face along flight routes such as detention by armed groups for perceived affiliation with parties to the conflict,” UNHCR said.
Latest data points to more than 40,000 people displaced from North Kordofan since 18 November. “UNHCR, through partners on the ground, is responding to the urgent needs of those displaced, but access remains challenging, and resources are critically low,” it said.
BiH: Joint Statement by High Representative Kallas and Commissioner Kos on the 30th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Accords
BiH: Joint Statement by High Representative Kallas and Commissioner Kos on the 30th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Accords Source link
Steel overcapacity: Council adopts mandate on new rules to protect EU steel industry from global overcapacity
The Council adopted its negotiating mandate on new rules to address the negative effects of global overcapacity on the EU steel industry, replacing the existing safeguards due to expire in June 2026.
Challenging outlook for meeting the EU’s long-term environment and climate objectives
Despite progress in key areas, the European Union (EU) remains likely off track for most 2030 environmental goals, according to the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) new 8th EAP assessment. Rising climate risks, slow transitions in production and consumption system and weakening enabling conditions highlight the urgent need for stronger, better financed and faster policy implementation. […]
UN sounds alarm as landmine deaths rise amid funding cuts
Speaking on the sidelines of a key international meeting in support of landmine action taking place at UN Geneva, experts in the field explained how shrinking resources in Afghanistan and Nigeria have exposed civilians to unexploded ordnance.
They stressed that mine action programmes, often viewed as long-term recovery initiatives, are in fact emergency humanitarian interventions that save lives.
Afghanistan’s child victims
According to the UN-partnered Landmine Monitor report, a staggering 77 per cent of all casualties in Afghanistan last year were children.
Some 54 people are killed there every month by the explosive remnants of war, giving the country the third highest explosive ordnance casualty rate in the world.
“It tends to be kids, mostly boys in the hills tending sheep and goats and they are picking up things of interest and playing with them or throwing stones at them and killing or injuring themselves,” explained Nick Pond, who heads mine action work at the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
Despite the urgent need for more deminers to make Afghanistan safe after decades of conflict, a lack of funding has meant that the UN-led team has “dropped and dropped”, Mr. Pond told journalists. “In 2011 there were 15,000 people working in demining, and now we’ve got about 1,300.”
Total recorded child casualties in Afghanistan since 1999 number 30,154 children, “so the work in Afghanistan is key to decreasing the [global] number of casualties”, said Christelle Loupforest, UNMAS Representative in Geneva.
She noted that although mine clearance work in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Sudan has recently received better support, the situation in Afghanistan and Nigeria remains dire, with programmes facing imminent suspension without new donor commitments.
“It’s the same for our programme in Ethiopia,” she said.
- Programmes could end in March without an injection of funds
- Afghan children make up most casualties; demining capacity is shrinking
- Sudan faces severe contamination but just five UNMAS teams are there
- Nigeria returnees encounter hidden explosive threats
- Gaza and West Bank contamination restricts aid access and endangers civilians
Sudan’s growing dangers
The situation across Sudan is also deeply concerning for stretched landmine clearance teams who fear for the 1.5 million civilians who have returned to the capital, Khartoum, the initial epicentre of the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Just five UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) clearance teams are at work in Sudan today and “all of them are in Khartoum, because the need is so big there”, explained Sediq Rashid, UNMAS chief in Sudan.
“Lots of accidents happened already and it’s very, very clear: unexploded ordnance is not different than Afghanistan or Syria or Nigeria.”
El Fasher latest
Summarising the situation in El Fasher, the city besieged for more than 500 days until recently overrun by RSF forces, Mr Rashid said that access remains extremely challenging. He noted that while civilians endured the siege, “the shelling never stopped” and even today “[it] is not completely stopped…there are reports of the presence of landmines as well, so it’s very concerning.”
Back in Khartoum, he said that teams have cleared the runway of the city’s main airport, “so we are hoping that at some point Khartoum Airport will become functional and that will make things much easier in terms of deploying the humanitarian aid workers to the area”.
At a school in Port Sudan, an explosive ordnance risk education in conducted for internally displaced persons.
Nigeria returnees at risk
In Nigeria, demining teams worry that displaced communities – with camps closing and nowhere else to go – risk returning to areas where lethal explosive remnants may be hidden from view.
A full 80 per cent of all civilian casualties have occurred in 11 of the 15 areas of return, said Edwin Faigmane, UNMAS chief in Nigeria.
In response, UNMAS has trained Nigerian security forces, police and civil defence workers on risk education in unstable and “hard-to-reach” areas.
The tactic has paid off, Mr Faigmane said, “as we have begun receiving reports back from the police or from community members saying that they found an item and that they’ve reported it to the village authorities or village leaders, who then reported on to the security and the military forces”.
Gazans still in extreme danger
In Gaza, UNMAS chief there Julius Van Der Walt noted that two years of intensive combat between Hamas fighters and Israeli forces had left an “absolutely immense” level of contamination.
This directly threatens civilians and obstructs essential support to the Strip’s 2.1 million residents by restricting humanitarian operations, slowing recovery efforts and making reconstruction extremely dangerous.
People are being injured “simply by collecting basic necessities on a day-to-day basis”, he said, while many families “have no choice” but to shelter in areas suspected of containing explosive ordnance. “Safer alternatives simply do not exist.”
UNMAS conducts an explosive hazard assessment of a logistics base in Rafah. The explosive ordnance that was found was marked with warning signs.
West Bank situation worsening
Turning to the West Bank, Mr. Van Der Walt pointed to the increasing risk of widespread explosive ordnance contamination in densely populated areas, refugee camps, urban centres and rural areas. “Communities are being forced to live side by side with deadly remnants of war,” he said.
The UN Secretary-General’s campaign on mine action launched on 16 June 2025 to insist that the norms of humanitarian disarmament are upheld – and to accelerate mine action in support of human rights and national development.
The campaign is a call to action to strengthen international disarmament efforts, and protect civilians – in particular children who made up 46 per cent of casualties in 2024 – from the impact of explosive ordnance.
Deep concerns for Palestinians amid intense Israeli raids in occupied West Bank
Around 100 hectares of Palestinian land have been reportedly confiscated to make way for the new route.
This would mark another step towards the progressive fragmentation of the West Bank, warned the head of the OHCHR’s Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ajith Sunghay.
“We are alarmed to hear that Israel has actually started building a new barrier and a road in the heart of the Jordan Valley,” he said on Friday.
“This is the most fertile land in the West Bank and the road is likely going to separate Palestinian communities from each other and the Palestinian farmers in Tubas from…land they own on the other side of the planned barrier.”
Mr. Sunghay maintained that the move would consolidate Israel’s annexation of the West Bank and remove all sources of livelihood for Palestinians.
He also noted that Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur shams camps have been emptied and that after almost one year, residents have not been allowed to return.
This raises concerns about forcible transfer which is prohibited under international law, the UN rights official said, before expressing concern about warnings issued to continue bulldozing Palestinian camps.
General Assembly boost for UNRWA
The General Assembly on Friday gave “a strong endorsement” to a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that claims about the UN agency serving Palestine refugees (UNRWA) being infiltrated by Hamas militants in Gaza, lack substance.
That’s according to UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini, who tweeted that the resolution backed by 139 States also pushed back on allegations that the main aid provider in the Gaza Strip was not a neutral organization.
“This vote is an important sign of support for UNRWA from the overwhelming majority of the international community. As the ICJ has stressed, UNRWA is the key humanitarian actor in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and everything must be done to facilitate our work, not hinder or prevent it.”
Nineteen nations abstained with 12 voting against. The United States, Argentina, Bolivia and Hungary were among those joining Israel in opposition.
Deputy UN Spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters at the daily briefing that UN Secretary-General António Guterres was “heartened by the tremendous amount of support” for UNRWA from Member States.
Winter storms deepen humanitarian crisis
Heavy rains across the Gaza Strip have flooded more displacement sites, collapsed damaged buildings in Jabalya and Gaza City, and caused further casualties, including children.
Humanitarian agencies warn that overflowing drainage systems and contaminated water sources are heightening the risk of outbreaks of waterborne disease.
“The immediate and sustained entry of spare parts and essential machinery must be facilitated,” aid coordination office, OCHA, stressed, noting that waste collection and safe disposal are now severely constrained.
As temperatures fall, families without access to gas or electricity are struggling to keep warm and are repeatedly moving in search of higher, safer ground.
Tent shortage
Aid partners are distributing winter clothing, tarpaulins and tents, but an estimated 1.3 million people still require urgent shelter support.
Since the ceasefire two months ago, fewer than 50,000 tents have entered Gaza for around 270,000 people. Thousands of pallets of shelter materials have been rejected and many NGOs have been blocked from operating.
Restrictions on the entry of aid must be lifted, OCHA said, including the ban on UNRWA, which has supplies for more than a million people stockpiled outside Gaza.
In the West Bank, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been displaced this year in Area C and East Jerusalem, largely due to demolitions for lacking Israeli permits that are nearly impossible to obtain.
OCHA continues to record an average of five Israeli settler attacks per day, with severe humanitarian impacts. The UN is calling for strengthened protection for Palestinians and an end to unlawful demolitions and settler violence.
Council decides to prohibit transfers of immobilised Central Bank of Russia assets back to Russia
The Council has decided to temporarily prohibit transfers of immobilised Central Bank of Russia assets back to Russia.
Amid Sudan’s unimaginable crisis, its people endure with hope
Fighting erupted between rival militaries in April 2023 following a breakdown in the transition to civilian rule, following the overthrow of longtime former President Omar al-Bashir four years earlier.
The army of Sudan’s military government has been battling the formerly allied fighters of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia for control of the vast country, where more than 12 million people have been uprooted.
Millions have fled across the border in what is the world’s largest displacement crisis.
In an in-depth interview with UN News, the UN human rights office’s (OHCHR) top official in Sudan, Li Fung, outlines the scale of violations unfolding, the urgent need for accountability, and why the courage of Sudanese communities remains a vital source of hope.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity
UN News: As we mark Human Rights Day, how would you characterize the current human rights situation in Sudan?
Li Fung: It remains extremely grave. The situation is first and foremost a human rights and protection crisis driven by two and half years of conflict and widespread violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law across the country.
This has triggered the world’s largest humanitarian emergency, mass displacement and shocking levels of hunger.
The scale and brutality of violations we continue to document reflect a crisis that has shattered the lives of millions, and stripped countless Sudanese of the basic protections every human being is entitled to.
The devastating impact of the conflict on the civilian population is hard to put into words. Cities reduced to rubble, families torn apart overnight, and civilians forced to make impossible choices just to survive.
But in this context, OHCHR continues to stand with the people of Sudan, to bear witness and document violations, to advocate for actions to protect human rights and to support the UN and humanitarian response.
On Human Rights Day, our message is clear: the human rights of the Sudanese people must be upheld. All parties must respect their obligations under international law, and they must protect civilians and ensure accountability for violations. The people of Sudan deserve peace, justice and full respect for their basic human rights.
Sudanses women meet OHCHR Team in Khartoum.
UN News: Many Sudanese fear that the ongoing violations will go unpunished. What accountability mechanism currently exists and what role can OHCHR play in ensuring justice for victims in Sudan?
Li Fung: Accountability does remain one of the most urgent challenges in Sudan, but despite the challenges of the current situation, there are various mechanisms.
OHCHR, and particularly our country office in Sudan, have a very important role to play in advancing accountability. We are continuing to document and verify violations of international law in extremely challenging conditions, from the perspective of preserving what has happened on the ground, giving a voice to survivors, victims and witnesses and ensuring that this can feed into accountability processes.
We also report to the High Commissioner [Volker Türk], who reports to the Human Rights Council, and this ensures that the situation in Sudan remains on the international agenda. Furthermore, we engage with survivors, we advocate for their rights, for their inclusion, and we support efforts to rebuild and strengthen rule of law institutions that can deliver justice.
At the international level, there are several important mechanisms as well, including the International Criminal Court [ICC], who has a mandate to investigate international crimes.
Also, the Human Rights Council has established an international, independent fact-finding mission on Sudan, whose role is complementary to our role as a country office, and they are documenting the violations, looking at responsibility and the international crimes that may have been committed.
But in amongst all these international efforts, it is important to highlight domestic accountability; and that is why we are working with different rule of law institutions looking at capacities to advance accountability and justice for the people of Sudan.
UN News: As we all know, access to the affected areas in Sudan and especially Darfur is extremely limited. How can the international community meaningfully support the documentation of human rights violations in these areas?
Li Fung: In terms of the response to the crisis in Sudan, the support of the international community is vital in many ways. Firstly, funding the human rights response, the humanitarian response requires resources to be able to meet the dire needs and the priorities of the people of Sudan.
Secondly, political action. Member States have got an incredibly important role to play in upholding international law, using their influence to press for dialogue, for peace, to reach a ceasefire, to really end arms flows, to advance on accountability and justice for the people of Sudan.
Documentation of the violations on the ground is critical for all these efforts because it really informs the efforts in response to the humanitarian needs, the priorities of the population, to advance the protection of civilians through very concrete, measurable actions.
OHCHR Team in Sudan listens to Sudanese women in Khartoum.
UN News: This is not the first time that Sudan has witnessed such violations in human rights – and many attribute this to decades of impunity. What concrete actions must the international community take to finally break this vicious cycle of impunity?
Li Fung: Impunity feeds persistent cycles of violence and violations. Concrete actions can be taken including supporting all efforts to seek accountability, supporting fact-finding, monitoring and documentation, which will lead to accountability processes to really call for the protection of civilians and for investigation.
It is also key to include accountability on the pathway towards peace for Sudan, as well as to advocate for inclusion of all the voices of the Sudanese people from across the country, to achieve a sustainable, peaceful future for Sudan.
UN News: Finally, is there any light at the end of the tunnel regarding the human rights situation?
Li Fung: Yes, despite the immense suffering that we see and the scale of the violations that we continue to document, there is light, and it comes first and foremost from the Sudanese people themselves.
Despite enormous challenges, Sudanese human rights defenders, local humanitarian volunteers and community groups and networks continue to demonstrate extraordinary courage and persistence.
Their resilience and their initiatives to support their own communities underscore the urgent need for sustained international retention, for stronger protection measures and for unimpeded humanitarian access. Their determination, even in cities scarred by conflict, is a powerful reminder that the foundations of a just and sustained future still exist.
I think there’s also hope in the renewed attention on the situation in Sudan. It is unfortunate that despite many warnings about the risks of atrocities and widespread violations, it was only once this occurred that international attention started to be paid to Sudan. But now we need to seize on this moment. We will continue to stand with the people of Sudan.
