Communities in Dilling and Kadugli in the south are trapped in “siege conditions”. according to the children’s agency UNICEF. Additionally, sustained attacks have been reported in West Kordofan in recent days.

Meanwhile, the situation in and around El Fasher – which UN relief chief Tom Fletcher described as “potential crime scene” after his capture by militia fighters during his visit last month – remains dire. Civilians trying to escape continue to face grave risks along dangerous routes.

“We cannot emphasize enough that civilians wishing to flee must be able to pass safely and be able to access humanitarian assistance.“, declared UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric during the daily press briefing.

Hospitals are not spared

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that attacks on health care in Sudan continue. Most of Al-Nhud Hospital in West Kordofan was overrun, depriving communities of essential medical care.

The UN agency has verified 198 attacks on health care since the conflict began in April 2023, killing more than 1,700 health workers and patients and injuring more than 400.

The children bear the brunt

In Tawila, North Darfur, where many displaced people have sought refuge, the arrival of people who fled El Fasher continues to put a strain on services.

The sites are overcrowded and malnutrition and disease are on the rise. UNICEF recorded nearly 950 separated or unaccompanied children in Tawila and other parts of the region.

According to the UN, its partners and state health authorities, the level of child malnutrition in White Nile State is “alarming”. More than 30 percent of children are underweight and one in three are stunted in El Jabalain, while limited access to clean water, low vaccination coverage and poor dietary practices fuel an acute malnutrition rate of 13 percent in Tendelti.

The response remains underfunded

“Despite all this, we continue to do everything we can to provide assistance», underlined Mr. Dujarric.

Over the past month, UNICEF and its partners have provided water to tens of thousands of people, delivering 132,000 liters per day.

They also treated acute malnutrition and provided psychosocial support to more than 3,000 young people.

However, with just weeks until the end of the year, the humanitarian response plan for Sudan is only 35 percent funded.

“We urge donors to step up their efforts and remain committed to supporting the millions of people in dire need across Sudan,” Dujarric said.

“When inclusion is real, everyone benefits,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message to mark THE International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

He emphasized that people with disabilities are driving progress that benefits all, highlighting how their leaders have improved disaster preparedness, expanded inclusive education and employment, and ensured that humanitarian responses reach those most at risk.

“Structural failures” persist

The head of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Li Jinhua, recalled that at the Second World Summit for Social Development held last month in Doha, the international community reaffirmed that real social progress can only be achieved when everyone is included.

Yet people with disabilities continue to face barriers to integration, including higher multidimensional poverty. They are also twice as likely to be unemployed, in addition to being excluded from an increasingly connected world.

“These are not just statistics. These are structural failures that undermine our collective potential,” he said in a recorded message during a virtual event to commemorate the Day.

Young deaf people at the head of the UN

Participants included representatives from the Deaf Leaders of Tomorrow Foundation (DLTF), an international non-profit organization leading a youth-led pilot initiative on sign language rights at the UN.

This involves training at DTLF, Gallaudet University – the world’s premier institution for deaf and hard of hearing students – and the United Nations Headquarters in New York, so that deaf youth gain a foundation in human rights frameworks, disability rights principles, diplomacy and global advocacy.

The initiative does more than just train young leaders, but it also “strengthens global development, moving from the disability framework to the human rights framework,” Yana Hadjihristova of the DLTF said in sign language.

She urged Member States and UN agencies to integrate sign language rights into all youth settings, adopt a global sign language equity strategy, and ensure that deaf youth play a greater role in decision-making.

“The message we send is simple and powerful,” she said. “Sign language creates leaders. Deaf leaders create inclusion. And when the United Nations promotes equity in sign language, the entire human rights system becomes stronger..”

From commitment to action

In Doha, countries adopted a declaration which sets out “a clear plan” towards the full inclusion and participation of people with disabilities, Li said.

Actions include social policies and integration programs, responding to needs and ensuring inclusive, accessible and equitable health services, housing, education, universal social protection and employment opportunities.

He said UNDESA is fully committed to supporting Member States in transforming their commitments into national policies.

“As we move forward, let us remember that societies that work for people with disabilities are resilient, equitable and prosperous for all, and leave no one behind. »

Advocacy rather than inspiration

In New York, the outgoing United Nations global advocate for people with disabilities in conflict and peacebuilding said he felt he had failed in the role, noting that the situation for this population had not changed.

Photojournalist Gilles Duley, who lost three limbs in Afghanistan, said his job as an advocate is to report stories from the front lines. Yet, as a disabled person, he is often asked to give inspiring talks.

“I am not here to be an inspiration to people. My job is to share stories because the reality on the ground for people with disabilities has not changed,” he said.

“So I feel like I’ve failed in my position here. I feel like it’s gotten very little because I haven’t had the opportunity to truly be an advocate.”

Mr Duley said that too often people with disabilities are presented as inspiring and resilient people, which they are, “but that means the stories of those who are truly vulnerable and left behind are often ignored or forgotten. We cannot idealize the idea of ​​disability.”

Coinciding with the anniversary of the fall of the old regime, “things are improving,” said Mohammad Al Nsour, head of the Middle East and North Africa section at OHCHR said UN News.

“Every time we go to Damascus, we can see the change. »

The OHCHR – prevented from operating in Syria for many years – now has a team permanently deployed in Damascus. For Mr Al Nsour, this marks an important turning point after a long period spent monitoring the human rights situation remotely from Beirut.

“The former government refused access to OHCHR,” he recalled from Geneva. “We have tried several times,” but now, “it is a great advantage to be on the ground,” he added.

Signs of progress

Syria remains faced with a number of urgent priorities: the need to rebuild a war-damaged country, address the many remaining grievances, and seek justice for past and present violations.

The senior official noted that insecurity also remains an alarming concern – from the northeast to Soueida – following massacres earlier this year in coastal areas, notably by members of the government security forces.

He nevertheless insisted that the general direction is “very constructive and positive”.

“There is a political will for improvement on the part of the government,” he said, highlighting the daily engagement between OHCHR and the authorities. The government received technical assistance from UN officials aimed at reforming legislation, strengthening human rights within law enforcement institutions, and improving public administration.

These measures, he said, demonstrate a commitment to a rights-based future.

He stressed that one of the main advantages of having an office inside the country is that it functions “as an advisor to the authorities”.

“We monitor, report and use advocacy to alert authorities of violations in order to prevent them. Our main goal and objective is not to shame or blame any government, but rather to prevent violations.”

Symbolic change

Preparations are underway for Syria’s first-ever Human Rights Day celebration on December 10, just two days after the first anniversary of the fall of the Assad regime.

The event is co-organized by OHCHR and the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the theme: A human rights-based approach to reconstruction.

Mr Al Nsour said the celebration would mark “a new chapter in our relationship with the Syrian government” and that discussions would focus on “how to advance the human rights agenda in the new Syria”.

Responsibility and justice

For many Syrians, responsibility remains central.

After violent incidents in the coastal region last March, authorities established a national commission of inquiry – which received important technical advice from OHCHR – and some perpetrators are now being tried in a national court.

Mr. Al Nsour noted that the government also accepted the renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry, allowing the continuation of independent international investigations, not only into violations committed under the Assad regime, but also since its fall.

Looking ahead, transitional justice is the priority for 2026.

“There is a need not only for accountability,” he said, “but also for truth-telling, reparations and national reconciliation.”

Women’s voices

OHCHR also supports women-led civil society organizations and promotes greater representation of women in political institutions, particularly following parliamentary elections – a request to which Mr Al Nsour said authorities are increasingly receptive.

At the same time, it also empowers these organizations by training them to use advocacy to promote their cause and connecting them with international human rights mechanisms.

The OHCHR official stressed that the greatest source of hope for Syria lies in the Syrians themselves.

“What is amazing about Syria is the resilience of the Syrian people,” he said. “What gives you hope is this extraordinary and educated young generation, ready to engage in a very positive way in the new Syria. »

Across the country, he noted that young people have launched local initiatives, from cleaning public parks to supporting local services – small acts that rebuild a sense of community after conflict.

“They have seen what has happened in other countries – post-conflict situations in the region and beyond – and they are doing their best to move in the right direction. »

A long way to go

Financial pressures are increasing, but donors have shown “very positive indications” of increased funding for Syria, according to Al Nsour.

“There is great interest from major donors in promoting human rights in the new Syria,” he explained, both inside and outside the region.

Despite numerous obstacles, he underlined the determination of Syrians to rebuild their country on the basis of human rights.

As Syrians mark Human Rights Day this year, perhaps the most important message is clear: progress, fragile as it is, is finally visible – and hope grows with it.

Israeli security forces raided the organization’s offices in Ramallah and Hebron on December 1, vandalizing property and arresting staff.

According to OHCHRpeople in the buildings were blindfolded, handcuffed and forced to kneel or lie on the ground for several hours. Eight men were arrested.

The union (UAWC) is licensed under Palestinian law and has supported farmers and rural communities for decades – particularly those facing settler violence or the threat of forced displacement.

The group is one of six Palestinian NGOs labeled “terrorist” by Israeli authorities in 2021 under legislation that the UN considers overly broad and allows for sweeping and unjustified restrictions on civil society. The human rights office stressed that Israel had not presented any evidence to support the allegations.

The most violent olive harvest ever recorded

The raid followed several weeks of harassment and public incitement by Israeli settlers and their leaders who targeted the UAWC at the height of the olive harvest. This year’s harvest was the most violent on record: as of mid-November, OHCHR had recorded 167 settler attacks affecting 87 Palestinian communities.

The violence increasingly extends beyond the farmers themselves. Since October 1, the UN office has recorded 81 violations committed by settlers and Israeli security forces against human rights defenders, volunteers providing a protective presence and NGOs supporting communities targeted by settler violence or threatened by settlement expansion. These include 48 arrests or detentions and 22 physical attacks.

OHCHR said the use of unnecessary or disproportionate force, arbitrary detention and ill-treatment remain common features of Israeli security operations in the West Bank.

“Illegal annexation”

The cumulative effect, he warns, is a rapid shrinking of physical and civic space for Palestinians, as settlement expansion and what the UN describes as Israel’s “illegal annexation” of territory continues.

Ajith Sunghay, head of OHCHR in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said the international legal position is unequivocal: “Israel must end its illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territory and expel all settlers in accordance with the findings of the International Court of Justice.”

“As an occupying power, Israel has clear duties under international law,” he added, including respecting and protecting the rights of Palestinians to earn a living and exercise their freedom of expression and association.