View previous stories
	No time to lose as famine stalks millions in Sudan amid intense fighting and access denials by OCHA, UNICEF, WFP, agencies   Feb. 2025   United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk at the Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on Sudan:   "I cannot overstate the seriousness of the situation in Sudan; the desperate plight of the Sudanese people; and the urgency with which we must act to ease their suffering. Since the armed conflict began in 2023, a devastating human rights crisis has generated the world’s largest humanitarian catastrophe.   More than six hundred thousand people are on the brink of starvation. Famine is reported to have taken hold in five areas, including Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur, where the World Food Programme has just been forced to suspend its lifesaving operations due to intense fighting.   Five more areas could face famine in the next three months, and a further 17 are at risk. My own staff have heard harrowing testimonies of death from starvation in Khartoum and Omdurman.   An estimated 8.8 million people have been forced from their homes to camps and other locations within Sudan, and 3.5 million more have fled across borders. This is the biggest displacement crisis in the world. Some 30.4 million people need assistance, from healthcare to food and other forms of humanitarian support. Less than 30 per cent of hospitals and clinics are still working, and outbreaks of disease are rampant in displacement camps.   We are looking into the abyss. Humanitarian agencies warn that without action to end the war, deliver emergency aid, and get agriculture back on its feet, hundreds of thousands of people could die.   The Sudanese people have endured unfathomable suffering and pain since the conflict began, with no peaceful solution in sight. It is impossible to imagine the torment of children who have lost their parents, wives and husbands who have lost their partners, people who have lost everything and are searching for food, water, and safety under constant shelling and bombardment.   This horrific situation is the result of grave and flagrant violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, and a culture of utter impunity. The report I am presenting today illustrates the scope of these violations and underscores why accountability is a matter of life and death.   Since the reporting period ended late last year, the parties to the conflict have continued to launch indiscriminate and direct attacks using explosive weapons with wide-area effects on densely populated areas, including IDP camps, markets and schools.   Following a series of attacks attributed to the Rapid Support Forces around Al Qetina in White Nile State last week, there were shocking reports of hundreds of people killed, and others raped and abducted. Hospitals and schools have been hit repeatedly. Three World Food Programme staff were killed in an airstrike in Blue Nile State in December.   My Office has documented many reports of summary executions of civilians. People have been attacked on the basis of who they are, often building on past divisions along ethnic and tribal lines. Hate speech and incitement to violence are increasing tensions and polarization.   As the fighting has spread across the country, appalling levels of sexual violence have followed. More than half of reported rape incidents took the form of gang rape – an indication that sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war. Cases of sexual violence were vastly under-reported because of stigma, fear of reprisal, and the collapse of medical and judicial institutions.   Child recruitment by both parties and their allied militias is driven in part by poverty and school closures. In some cases, children joined the fighting to protect their families.   Civic space is shrinking, while arbitrary detention puts civil society, journalists and human rights defenders at risk of torture and ill-treatment. At least 12 journalists were killed during the reporting period, including two who were in detention.   Some of the acts documented in the report may constitute war crimes and other atrocity crimes.   In May last year, I spoke personally with Lt-General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, President of the Transitional Sovereignty Council and Commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Commander of the Rapid Support Forces, and warned them that the fighting was having a catastrophic impact on civilians and would deepen intercommunal conflict, with disastrous humanitarian consequences.   I renew my calls on them to engage in negotiations and mediation efforts towards an immediate cessation of hostilities; to take effective measures to protect civilians, end sexual violence and the recruitment and use of children; and ensure the safe passage of humanitarian relief and humanitarian aid workers to all areas.   And I call on the international community to make coordinated diplomatic efforts towards finding a path to peace.   Accountability is critical to breaking the recurring cycles of violence and impunity in Sudan and preventing further violations and abuses. All violations and abuses must be investigated by independent and impartial investigation mechanisms, in line with international standards.   Sudan is a powder keg, on the verge of a further explosion into chaos, and at increasing risk of atrocity crimes and mass deaths from famine. Despite continued mediation efforts, Sudan is at a political stalemate while the bloodshed continues unabated. The danger of escalation has never been higher.   Recent moves towards establishing a governing authority in areas under RSF control are likely to further entrench divisions and the risk of continued hostilities.   There is an intense struggle for control of natural resources, strategic assets, and economic interests, leading both parties to seek regional and international alliances to sustain the war economy.   Sudan’s location at the crossroads of several sub-regions means this conflict poses a serious threat to peace and stability in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, and beyond.   The continued supply of weapons from outside the country – including new and more advanced arms – also poses a serious risk. We need urgent action now, to find a path to peace.   All countries must use their influence to apply diplomatic and political pressure on the parties, and their regional and international allies, towards a ceasefire, the effective protection of civilians, and the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid.   They must also ensure compliance with the arms embargo on Darfur, while considering its expansion to cover the whole country.   We must move towards an inclusive dialogue that reflects the diversity of the people of Sudan and paves the way for a transition to a civilian-led Government that responds to the aspirations of the Sudanese people. We must do much, much better for the people of Sudan.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/04/sudan-faces-worsening-humanitarian-catastrophe-famine-and-conflict-escalate http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2025/02/sudan-powder-keg-high-commissioner-turk-warns-human-rights-council   25 Oct. 2024   UN agencies warn of spiraling Sudan crisis as civilians face grave risks: Joint Statement by UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner Raouf Mazou and UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban.   "The humanitarian crisis in Sudan continues to spiral, with millions of people in desperate need of assistance. The conflict has displaced over 11 million people, both internally and across borders, while pushing millions more into extreme vulnerability, particularly children.   Access to basic services—such as safe water, healthcare, and shelter—is severely limited. As we witness the collapse of vital infrastructure, the international response must intensify immediately to match the overwhelming scale of need.   "An estimated 13 million people are facing acute levels of food insecurity. Fourteen regions across the country are teetering on the brink of famine, and in Zamzam camp in North Darfur, famine conditions have already been confirmed.   There are 3.7 million children under five projected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year alone and are in urgent need of life-saving treatment. These children are already weakened by hunger. If not reached soon, these children are 11 times more likely to die from preventable diseases than their healthier peers in Sudan.   "A key issue in delivering critical aid has been ensuring safe, unimpeded access to communities in need across all areas of Sudan. UN agencies responsible for the delivery of aid and the provision of technical assistance need to be given permission from Government authorities and conflict parties to have a sustained presence in all affected communities. The reality on the ground remains fraught with logistical and administrative barriers. These access constraints are hindering the UN's ability to deliver life-saving supplies and protection to the most vulnerable communities.   "Sudan is now home to one of the world’s largest and most pressing displacement crises. The situation for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees is particularly dire, with more than 10 million people displaced from home in Sudan, many multiple times. Those forced from their homes ar exposed to heightened vulnerabilities, enduring extreme hardship in makeshift shelters, lacking even the most basic services, and face severe protection risks.   "Despite the immense challenges, we reaffirm our commitment to supporting the people of Sudan and all those impacted by the conflict. UNHCR, UNICEF, and our humanitarian partners are working to provide critical services. However, without sustained international backing including adequate funding, attention for a political way to address the conflict and the removal of bureaucratic and security obstacles, the situation will continue to worsen.   "Above all, the protection of civilians must be paramount. We urgently call on all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law and prioritize the protection of civilians, who continue to face unimaginable suffering.   Civilians—especially women and children—are enduring grave violations of their rights, including sexual and gender-based violence, exploitation, and attacks on their safety and dignity. These heinous acts, including the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, must end immediately.   Humanitarian assistance alone cannot resolve this crisis; we must also ensure that those most vulnerable are shielded from further harm. The people of Sudan desperately need our collective action now. We must respond with the urgency and scale that this crisis demands."   June 2024   No time to lose as famine stalks millions in Sudan amid intense fighting and access denials-Statement by Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee   Time is running out for millions of people in Sudan who are at imminent risk of famine, displaced from their lands, living under bombardments, and cut off from humanitarian assistance.   With the conflict now in its second year, 18 million people are acutely hungry, including 3.6 million children who are acutely malnourished, and famine is quickly closing in on millions of people in Darfur, Kordofan, Aj Jazirah and Khartoum.   Sudan is home to the largest number of internally displaced people in the world at nearly 10 million. A further 2 million people have escaped to neighbouring countries.   Horrific attacks against civilians – including sexual violence – as well as hospitals and schools are multiplying.   In Al Fasher, more than 800,000 civilians are bracing for an imminent large-scale attack, which would unleash catastrophic humanitarian consequences both in the city and across Darfur.   Despite the tremendous needs, aid workers continue to face systematic obstructions and deliberate denials of access by parties to the conflict. Movements across conflict lines to parts of Khartoum, Darfur, Aj Jazirah and Kordofan have been all but cut off since mid-December.   The closure of the Adre border crossing in February – our main route into western Sudan from Chad – means that limited assistance is trickling into Darfur. Aid workers are being killed, injured and harassed, and humanitarian supplies are being looted.   In March and April of this year, nearly 860,000 people were denied humanitarian aid in Kordofan, Darfur and Khartoum states. Deliberate hindrances to humanitarian assistance that leave the civilian population without the essentials to survive violate international humanitarian law.   Extreme hunger is unfolding, and the outlook for food production in 2024 is bleak. We have a rapidly shrinking window to get seeds to farmers before the main planting season ends and the rainy season begins. If we act in time, people – especially those in inaccessible areas – will be able to produce food locally and avert food shortages in the next six months. Without immediate action, people will go hungry and be forced to move in search of food, shelter and protection.   Let us be clear: If we are prevented from providing aid rapidly and at scale, more people will die. Without an immediate and major step change, we will face a nightmare scenario: A famine will take hold in large parts of the country.   More people will flee to neighbouring countries in search of sustenance and safety. More children will succumb to disease and malnutrition. Women and girls, already bearing the brunt of the conflict, will face even greater suffering and dangers.   To prevent these worst-case scenarios, we, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Principals, urgently request the parties to the conflict to do the following:   Take immediate measures to protect civilians, including by refraining from directing attacks against them, allowing them to leave for safer areas, and ending sexual and gender-based violence. Facilitate unimpeded humanitarian access through all possible crossline and cross-border routes to allow civilians to receive humanitarian aid.   Immediately cease all acts denying, obstructing and interfering with, or politicizing, humanitarian action. Simplify and expedite administrative and bureaucratic procedures related to the delivery of humanitarian aid.   De-escalate the situation in Al Fasher and adopt a nationwide ceasefire. Stop human rights violations, including grave violations against children, and hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes.   We are also concerned by the limited support from donors. Nearly five months into the year – and six weeks after the International Humanitarian Conference for Sudan and its Neighbours in Paris on 15 April – we've received just 16 per cent of the $2.7 billion we need.   Donors must urgently disburse pledges made in Paris and fast-track additional funding for the humanitarian appeal. With a famine on the horizon, we must deliver much more life-saving aid now, including seeds for farmers before the planting season ends. The clock is ticking. The choice is clear.   http://interagencystandingcommittee.org/inter-agency-standing-committee/statement-principals-inter-agency-standing-committee-no-time-lose-famine-stalks-millions-sudan-amid http://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/sudans-children-trapped-critical-malnutrition-crisis-warn-un-agencies http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/geneva-palais-briefing-note-sudan-crisis-neglect http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/sudans-children-trapped-critical-malnutrition-crisis-warn-un-agencies http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/06/using-starvation-weapon-war-sudan-must-stop-un-experts   15 May 2024   At least 5 million people in Sudan are on the brink of starvation. (WFP, agencies)   The UN World Food Programme warns that the window to save lives is closing as famine looms in Sudan’s war-torn regions with civilians trapped by intensified fighting in northern Darfur; the rainy season set to start in the coming month making critical transport routes inaccessible; and as the lean season - when food stocks run out and hunger peaks – hits.   “The situation is desperate and quickly deteriorating. WFP has the capacity to scale up and expand our assistance, but for that we need all parties to facilitate access – both across the warring front lines, as well as cross-border from Chad and South Sudan,” said WFP’s Deputy Executive Director, Carl Skau following a mission to Sudan this week.   “Only a few weeks remain to stock up food supplies in parts of Darfur and Kordofan before the rainy season starts and many roads become impassible. Farmers also need to safely reach their farmlands to plant ahead of the rains,” he added.   At least 5 million people in Sudan are on the brink of starvation (IPC4). WFP experts warn that number may have significantly increased since the last Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) assessment in December 2023.   A preliminary WFP analysis has identified 41 hunger hotspots that are high-risk of slipping into famine (IPC5) in the coming month, most of them in access constrained areas where conflict is raging including in the Darfur and Kordofan region and Khartoum.   Escalating fighting in North Darfur’s capital El Fasher in recent days has resulted in large numbers of civilian deaths and injuries, damaged the only operational hospital in the state, and hampered humanitarian access to the city and beyond.   “I urge the warring parties to uphold their obligations under international law to protect civilians and to stop the fighting,” he added.   WFP has repeatedly been warning that Sudan could become the world’s worst hunger crisis as the conflict enters its second year. The window to prevent famine is rapidly closing without immediate action.   “The situation in Sudan has not been given the attention it deserves. That must change now. Concerted diplomatic efforts and more resources are urgently needed to protect civilians and to strengthen the humanitarian response. WFP is committed and ready to do its part,” WFP Deputy Executive Director said.   http://www.wfp.org/news/small-window-remains-avert-disaster-sudans-war-torn-regions-warns-wfp-deputy-executive http://news.un.org/en/story/2024/05/1149786 http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-briefing-notes/2024/05/sudan-un-human-rights-chief-horrified-escalating-violence-el-fasher http://www.unocha.org/news/sudans-humanitarian-coordinator-calls-immediate-ceasefire-al-fasher-safeguard-civilians http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/attack-el-fasher-would-endanger-hundreds-thousands-children-warns-unicef http://news.un.org/en/story/2024/05/1149281 http://www.msf.org/sudan-msf-warns-catastrophic-malnutrition-crisis-zamzam-camp-amidst-escalating-violence-north http://msf.exposure.co/voices-of-el-geneina http://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/opinion/first-person/2024/05/29/how-el-fasher-went-darfurs-safe-haven-all-out-war-sudan http://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2024/05/09/rsf-accused-war-crimes-ethnic-cleansing-darfur http://www.hrw.org/report/2024/05/09/massalit-will-not-come-home/ethnic-cleansing-and-crimes-against-humanity-el http://www.msf.org/after-year-war-sudan-rapid-scale-response-needed http://dataviz.unhcr.org/products/gotm/2024-04/sudan-one-year-spiralling-conflict.html http://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2023/08/02/how-mutual-aid-networks-are-powering-sudans-humanitarian-response http://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2024/04/15/mutual-aid-mass-displacement-how-we-chronicled-year-conflict-sudan   Feb. 2024   In the deafening silence of global indifference, the war in Sudan recently entered its 10-month mark.   Since April 2023, close to 8 million people have fled their homes, of whom more than 1.6 million have sought refuge in Chad, South Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Central African Republic – countries already grappling with immense difficulties.   Close to 25 million people need humanitarian assistance, including around 5 million people on the brink of famine and nearly 7 million children who are severely undernourished. Mass graves conceal evidence of widespread, systematic, and targeted mass atrocities that could be repeated at any moment as the conflict further expands.   Yet despite all of this, Sudan remains seemingly invisible to the global community.   The UN Security Council, other key multilateral institutions like the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and states with influence over the warring parties have failed to stop the violence.   And while the UN Security Council does little beyond condemn attacks on civilians and call for access to humanitarian assistance, regional efforts to resolve the crisis have been grindingly slow and too tepid.   As a result, commitments from the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces to protect civilians and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance remain unfulfilled. Those with influence over the warring parties have echoed hollow calls for ceasefires and looked away as cumbersome bureaucratic requirements hinder our aid efforts.   A worsening crisis   Their lives turned upside down, Sudanese civilians have shown extraordinary strength. They have forged local mutual aid networks, channelling tireless efforts into collecting food, cash, and medicine to aid those in dire need. They have demonstrated that assisting Sudan's most impacted regions is difficult but far from impossible. Yet despite these efforts, the humanitarian situation is still worsening.   Sudan now has the grim honour of being the world’s largest child displacement crisis, with more than 3 million children – from a population of about 23 million children – displaced by violence since mid-April last year.   Today, fighting has engulfed more than half of the country. The capital Khartoum is now a ghost city, haunted by the smell of decaying bodies left in the streets. The normally quiet neighbourhoods have become battlefields, where homes, hospitals, schools, and markets have been bombed, looted, and occupied. In southern Sudan, the towns of Kordofan are strangled as fighting has cut supply lines and roads.   In December, Al-Jazirah state, once the country’s breadbasket, witnessed intense fighting leading to a new wave of displacement, as more than half of a million people fled their homes in search of safety. The state had recently become a hub for humanitarian operations, including our own, and fighting has forced us to relocate our staff and pause our operations in the state.   Further west, in Darfur, ethnicity has determined life or death. The generation born during the 2003-2005 genocide has followed their parents' desperate exodus. More than 600,000 people have now fled into neighbouring Chad; thousands never made it, having been executed in their homes or on the way.   At the end of February, the UN Security Council will close its political mission to Sudan, at a time when its responsibility to the country’s population is greater than ever.   To allow humanitarian organisations to reach the Sudanese people, we need the UN Security Council to demand unfettered humanitarian access across Sudan. The Council should act to pass a Resolution calling for all parties to the conflict to uphold their obligations under International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law, including the duty to protect civilians and the critical infrastructure they rely upon. This includes taking all feasible precautions to prevent grave violations against children and any forms of sexual and gender-based violence. The UN Security Council cannot continue to ignore its responsibility to protect civilians.   To those who have been left wounded, homeless, starving, bereft and robbed of their future, the UN Security Council, the African Union, IGAD, and regional partners must stand together and show that they will no longer stand idly by while rampant and egregious violations of international law are committed. It is time for disparate and at times competing diplomatic initiatives to become more coordinated and coherent.   Parties to the conflict must be held accountable for their commitments, and all actors must call out any continued targeting of civilians and arbitrary denials of humanitarian access. Perpetrators of all violations cannot be allowed to operate with impunity. The people of Sudan have been left to suffer in silence. More than 10 months on, it is past time that the bravery of the Sudanese people is matched by the concrete actions of the international community.   * David Miliband, President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee; Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children International; Jan Egeland, Secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council; Charlotte Slente, Secretary General of the Danish Refugee Council; Michelle Nunn, President and CEO – CARE USA; Stephen Omollo, CEO of Plan International   http://www.savethechildren.net/news/sudan-nearly-230000-children-and-new-mothers-likely-die-hunger-without-critical-action-save http://www.wfp.org/news/sudans-war-risks-creating-worlds-largest-hunger-crisis-warns-wfp-chief http://www.care-international.org/news/ten-months-turmoil-sudan-children-battling-malnutrition-conflict-rages http://www.wfp.org/stories/sudans-war-rages-fallout-spreads-nearby-countries http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/04/sudan-un-committee-urges-end-ethnic-violence-and-hate-speech-calls-immediate http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2024/03/high-commissioner-outlines-insidious-disregard-human-life-sudan http://www.wfp.org/news/sudan-crisis-sends-shockwaves-around-region-displacement-hunger-and-malnutrition-soar   http://www.unicef.org/mena/press-releases/numbers-children-seek-life-saving-care-sudan-war-drives-worlds-worst-displacement-crisis http://www.emro.who.int/sdn/sudan-news/urgent-action-needed-to-reach-the-most-vulnerable-in-sudan-with-life-saving-health-services.html http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/02/sudan-25-million-people-dire-humanitarian-need-say-un-experts http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/03/sudan-internet-shutdown-threatens-delivery-of-humanitarian-and-emergency-services/   Feb. 2024   World confronts an ‘ugly and inescapable truth’ in Darfur, by Karim Khan - Prosecutor, International Criminal Court (ICC)   The international community’s failure to execute warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and subsequent lack of accountability are fuelling the violence stemming from the war between rival militaries in Sudan, ICC Prosecutor told the UN Security Council on Monday.   Prosecutor Karim Khan emphasized the “ugly and inescapable truth” that failure to act now is not only a damning verdict on the present but will subject future generations to a similar fate. “It cannot be a case of ‘play, rewind, and repeat’,” he warned.   A clear assessment by his office indicated the presence of “grounds to believe” that Rome Statute crimes – genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity – are being committed by both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) along with affiliated groups.   “We need to do more”, he stressed, urging Sudan to comply in good faith with Security Council resolutions, cooperate with and provide requested information to his office, and allow investigators in the country.   In March 2005, the Security Council referred the situation in Darfur to the ICC Prosecutor for investigations into allegations of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.   During that time, the region was engulfed in a brutal war involving the military-led government, the Janjaweed militia, and rebel groups, resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands of civilian lives and the displacement of millions more from their homes in a campaign marked by ethnic cleansing against non-Arabs.   In July last year, Mr. Khan announced an investigation into fresh allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur against the backdrop of the ongoing war between SAF and RSF forces and their affiliated groups.   Situation ‘dire by any metric’.   Speaking to ambassadors via video link from N'Djamena, the capital of Chad, Mr. Khan described the situation as “dire by any metric”.   Since the conflict’s onset in April 2023, over 7.1 million Sudanese civilians have been displaced, with 1.5 million forced to seek refuge in neighbouring countries.   Chad, in particular, hosts more than 540,000 Sudanese refugees, a number expected to rise to 910,000 by the end of 2024.   “One in three of the population in the affected parts of Chad are refugees.. they are arriving at a rate faster than Chad, faster than the United Nations can respond,” Mr. Khan said, with many showing signs of serious injury and trauma.   Refugees themselves have provided chilling testimony describing sexual violence against Darfuri women and girls, brutal killings, and racially motivated crimes.   Mr. Khan warned ambassadors that the crisis in Darfur was deepening, with the war impacting whole swathes of the continent: from Libya on the Mediterranean to Sub-Saharan Africa, and from Sudan’s Red Sea coast to the Atlantic.   “We see a number of areas where conflicts seem to be triumphing against rule of law and deafening out the voices of the most vulnerable people,” he said.   Stressing that judicial orders and court judgements alone cannot solve the problem, the ICC prosecutor urged the international community to devise innovative solutions to address the “catastrophe” in Darfur and prevent the violence from spreading further.   Mr. Khan urged Council members not to lose sight of the individual human stories behind the statistics of those affected by brutal crimes and war.   “These are individuals whose lives have been torn apart, each of whom has a story of woe and of suffering,” he said, emphasizing the collective responsibility of the Security Council, the United Nations, Member States, regional organizations and the ICC “to live up to our promises that we have repeatedly made.”   http://news.un.org/en/story/2024/01/1146012   Jan. 2023   For Sudan’s people, 2023 was a year of suffering, by Martin Griffiths - UN Emergency Relief Coordinator (OCHA)   Nearly nine months of war have tipped Sudan into a downward spiral that only grows more ruinous by the day. As the conflict spreads, human suffering is deepening, humanitarian access is shrinking, and hope is dwindling. This cannot continue.   2024 demands that the international community – particularly those with influence on the parties to the conflict in Sudan – take decisive and immediate action to stop the fighting and safeguard humanitarian operations meant to help millions of civilians.   Now that hostilities have reached the country’s breadbasket in Aj Jazirah State, there is even more at stake. More than 500,000 people have fled fighting in and around the state capital Wad Medani, long a place of refuge for those uprooted by clashes elsewhere. Ongoing mass displacement could also fuel the rapid spread of a cholera outbreak in the state, with more than 1,800 suspected cases reported there so far.   The same horrific abuses that have defined this war in other hotspots – Khartoum, Darfur and Kordofan – are now being reported in Wad Medani. Accounts of widespread human rights violations, including sexual violence, remind us that the parties to this conflict are still failing to uphold their commitments to protect civilians.   There are also serious concerns about the parties’ compliance with international humanitarian law. Given Wad Medani’s significance as a hub for relief operations, the fighting there – and looting of humanitarian warehouses and supplies – is a body blow to our efforts to deliver food, water, health care and other critical aid. Once again, I strongly condemn the looting of humanitarian supplies, which undermines our ability to save lives.   Across Sudan, nearly 25 million people will need humanitarian assistance in 2024. But the bleak reality is that intensifying hostilities are putting most of them beyond our reach. Deliveries across conflict lines have ground to a halt. And though the cross-border aid operation from Chad continues to serve as a lifeline for people in Darfur, efforts to deliver elsewhere are increasingly under threat.   The escalating violence in Sudan is also imperiling regional stability. The war has unleashed the world’s largest displacement crisis, uprootng the lives of more than 7 million people, some 1.4 million of whom have crossed into neighbouring countries already housing large refugee populations.   For Sudan’s people, 2023 was a year of suffering. In 2024, the parties to the conflict must do three things to end it: Protect civilians, facilitate humanitarian access, and stop the fighting – immediately.   http://reliefweb.int/country/sdn http://www.ungeneva.org/en/news-media/news/2024/01/89755/sudan-war-living-nightmare-children-unicef-representative http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/almost-3-million-children-sudans-al-jazirah-state-risk-violence-escalates http://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/sudan-humanitarian-response-crippled-wad-madani-aid-hub-and-home-700000-people-overtaken http://www.wfp.org/news/wfp-warns-hunger-catastrophe-looms-conflict-hit-sudan-without-urgent-food-assistance http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/alerts-archive/issue-92/en/   http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/least-5-million-children-brink-darfur-unchecked-conflict-worsens http://www.unicef.org/mena/press-releases/over-200-days-war-leaves-generation-children-sudan-brink http://www.savethechildren.net/news/sudan-about-7600-children-fleeing-homes-daily-world-s-largest-child-displacement-crisis http://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing-notes/unimaginable-humanitarian-crisis-unfolding-sudan http://www.iom.int/news/iom-chief-international-community-must-not-turn-its-back-worlds-largest-displacement-sudan http://www.msf.org/sudan-urgent-response-needed-amid-high-death-rates-and-malnutrition-crisis-north-darfur http://www.msf.org/conflict-sudan http://www.mercycorps.org/press-room/releases/sudan-breadbasket-to-battlefield http://www.humanitarianoutcomes.org/publications/score-report-sudan-2023 http://reports.unocha.org/en/country/sudan/ Visit the related web page
	Ukraine: Humanitarian impact of intensified strikes and hostilities by UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs, agencies   21 Oct. 2024   Russia’s relentless systematic attacks in Ukraine have continued to bring immense suffering to the people and put global food security at risk, a senior UN official told the UN Security Council on Monday.   Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca, whose portfolio straddles both Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, voiced concern over attacks on energy infrastructure as winter approaches.   Mr. Jenca said at least 208 Ukrainian civilians were killed and 1,220 injured in September, making it the month with the highest number of civilian casualties this year.   Overall, at least 11,973 civilians have been killed, including 622 children, since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, according to the UN human rights office, OHCHR. During this time, nearly 26,000 people have been injured, including 1,686 children.   Civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure are reported daily in Ukraine, with the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Sumy regions bearing the brunt, he said.   The latest attacks took place that morning and over the weekend, resulting in casualties in Zaporizhzhia and Kryviy Rih. Ongoing hostilities have also led authorities in the Kharkiv region to further expand mandatory evacuations to some 7,000 people.   While the worst impact of the war continues to be felt in frontline communities in eastern and southern Ukraine, “death and destruction is also a daily occurrence away from the areas of active fighting,” he said.   This includes residential areas of the capital, Kyiv, which was again targeted with drones that same morning and over the weekend. He noted that Kyiv was reportedly attacked by over 130 drones on 16 October. The western city of Lviv as well as Odesa in the south have also been repeatedly hit, resulting in multiple civilian casualties.   “We are also concerned about the impact of continuing fighting across the Russian-Ukrainian border, particularly in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation, following Ukraine’s August incursion,” he said.   Russia has also resumed attacks on Ukrainian Black Sea ports in recent weeks. Since 1 September, six vessels as well as grain infrastructure in the ports have been damaged, according to local authorities.   This led to wheat prices increasing more than six per cent between 1 September and 14 October, while prices of risk insurance for Ukrainian exporters have surged, affecting the agricultural sector.   Mr. Jenca reminded ambassadors that the safety and sustainability of agricultural exports passing through the Black Sea remain critical for global food security.   In this regard, the UN continues engagement with Ukraine, Russia and Turkiye, as well as other stakeholders, in support of freedom and safety of navigation through this crucial channel.   Continuing, he said that “systematic Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have become one of the defining, abhorrent hallmarks of this war."   The large-scale destruction and interruption of power and water supplies throughout the country will likely worsen the living conditions for millions of Ukrainians through a third winter of war.   “Vulnerable groups - including older persons, people with disabilities, and the internally displaced - are likely to be disproportionately affected. Many may soon find themselves trapped in their homes without heating and other essential utilities,” he warned.   These conditions are also expected to magnify the already dire humanitarian situation in Ukraine, where some 7.2 million people received humanitarian aid during the first eight months of this year.   He expressed deep concern over the 1.5 million people who the UN has been unable to properly reach in parts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions, currently occupied by Russia.   “We renew our call for the safe, rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief to all civilians in need, in accordance with International Humanitarian Law,” he said, before urging donors to step up support for the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan which is just over half funded.   http://news.un.org/en/story/2024/10/1155961 http://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/ukraine-situation-report-30-october-2024-enuk   26 Aug. 2024   “It is crucial to keep attention on the human rights situation in Ukraine”, says Danielle Bell the Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.   The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation is well into its third year. How would you describe the human rights situation in Ukraine?   The invasion is having an immense impact on the Ukrainian people. More than 10,000 civilians have been killed and more than 20,000 injured. Relentless attacks continue to destroy homes, hospitals, schools, and infrastructure. Entire neighbourhoods and villages have been destroyed. A major children’s hospital in Kyiv was recently attacked. Millions have been forced to flee, separating families. Summary executions, torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, and sexual violence have occurred with impunity.   In the Russian Federation, the conflict has also affected increasing numbers of Russian civilians, and there has been destruction and damage of civilian infrastructure. It’s easy to become numb to the scale of these figures, but our public reports are not just statistics. Every single figure we report has a human story behind it, often with dreadful suffering.   What recent trends in violations have you observed?   We have been seeing an alarming increase in civilian casualties since March this year, with July being the deadliest month for Ukraine’s civilians since October 2022. This surge is due to coordinated attacks launched by the Russian armed forces across Ukraine, including air strikes on a hospital complex in Kyiv, and the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, which are causing the most harm in territory controlled by the Government of Ukraine.   Also, large-scale attacks against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have drastically reduced the country’s electricity capacity, leading to daily power cuts for millions of people across Ukraine.   These outages, often lasting many hours, limit access to water, mobile networks and internet, and public transportation, and disrupt children’s ability to study, as many in Ukraine attend school remotely. Those who will be most impacted are the vulnerable groups. And in the Russian Federation, the conflict has recently led to large numbers of civilians displaced from their homes.   http://news.un.org/en/story/2024/10/1155961 http://news.un.org/en/tags/ukraine http://www.acaps.org/en/countries/archives/detail/ukraine-quarterly-humanitarian-access-update-q3-2024   Mar. 2024   UN human rights experts urge international community to step up efforts to forge peace between Russia and Ukraine. (OHCHR)   UN experts call for greater efforts by the international community to end Russia’s war against Ukraine in line with the UN Charter and find a path of peace without delay. They issued the following statement to mark two years since the Russian full-scale invasion:   “The lives of millions of civilians continue to be at stake. They are children, women and men who must always be treated with humanity and respect for their dignity. For them, peace is neither an empty word nor an abstract concept. It is the essential precondition for restoring normality to everyday life.   There is no normality when people are killed, tortured, forcibly disappeared, sexually assaulted, displaced, deported, arbitrarily detained, or exposed to toxic or radiological substances.   There is no normality when people are in fear of constant shelling and when air raid sirens sound every day, day and night, forcing people to escape to shelters.   Life is disrupted when people cannot live in their homes, use hospitals, schools and roads, because these places are under attack or destroyed. Survival is at stake when farmers are not able to work their lands because they are contaminated by landmines and explosives.   War is savagery and brutality, everywhere and in all circumstances. It affects everyone.   As time passes without any prospect of peace, the trauma of war entrenches and will lead to even more suffering and devastation.   We call for peace to be established without delay. War and aggression violate the basic principles of coexistence between peoples and nations, human rights and the UN Charter.   We support all efforts of the international community aimed at achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine consistent with the principles of the UN Charter and ensuring the protection of human rights for all. Rehabilitation, recovery and redress for victims and survivors must be provided, and the rights of minorities respected.   All perpetrators, including those exercising superior authority, must be held accountable for war crimes and other atrocities which are alleged to have been committed on a large-scale.   The missing and disappeared must be found, prisoners of war and others arbitrarily deprived of liberty released, and the forcibly deported, including Ukrainian children, returned home. These are necessary for peace, reconciliation and justice.   To date, Russia’s full-scale invasion in Ukraine has caused over 10,000 civilian deaths, an estimated 20,000 civilian injuries and an undisclosed number of combatant casualties.   Some 18 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance – almost 40 percent of Ukraine’s population. This includes over three million people living in frontline communities who face severe shortages of resources and constant bombardment.   While millions of people remain internally displaced in Ukraine, some 6 million Ukrainians, mostly women and children, have sought refuge abroad, which was one of the fastest and largest refugee exoduses in history and they currently make up the third largest refugee population in the world.   The impact of this war continues to be felt beyond Ukraine’s borders, as businesses and supply chains have been disrupted and prices of food, energy, fertiliser and other essential commodities have soared around the world, fuelling a severe global cost of living crisis.”   42 civilian casualties every day in two years of war. (Humanitarian NGO Platform in Ukraine)   Two years since the escalation of war in Ukraine, more than 10,500 civilians have been killed, including 587 children, as constant bombardments, mines, and drone attacks have left a generation traumatised, displaced and fearful for their lives, said 51 members of the Humanitarian NGO Platform in Ukraine.   With an average of 42 civilians killed and wounded per day, and recent months being particularly deadly, the group, made up of local and international organisations working in the country, is calling for the immediate protection of civilians, and reminds member states of promises made to tackle dire humanitarian needs of people in Ukraine.   More than 87% of the people killed, or 9,241 people, are casualties of explosive weapons, with many of the injuries life-changing in nature, including the loss of limbs or eyesight. The number is understood to be a vast undercount, as the UN continues to corroborate the figures. At the same time, people across Ukraine far from the frontlines also need support to rebuild their lives and recover.   “My daughter is growing up in the basement now,” says Sviatlana. She and her 7-year-old daughter decided to stay in Kherson, an area that comes under heavy bombardment... “The longest time we had in the dark without electricity was 1.5 months, so now when there is a blackout I try to joke with my daughter, ‘what is one day, we already had way worse’. …Now there is only waiting and surviving. She is just a kid and wants to play outside on the playground, but she cannot leave the basement.”   Two years of renewed fighting has destroyed lives, homes and livelihoods, leaving 14.6 million people, including nearly 3 million children, in desperate need of humanitarian assistance across Ukraine. Nearly 80% of those in need of aid also require mental health support. The poverty level in Ukraine increased five-fold – 24 percent up from 5 percent – in 2022 alone.   Because of ongoing violence, about 4 million people are still displaced within Ukraine and more than 5.9 million were forced to flee to neighboring countries. Even though 67% of those internally displaced say they want to return home someday, many are unable to return to their homes as the war has shattered their communities, and livelihoods.   Many displaced people struggle to integrate in their new communities, where it is difficult to find jobs and housing. Women make up 58% of the internally displaced, and are more likely than men to experience unemployment and dependency on humanitarian aid.   Vulnerable groups are disproportionately affected by the ongoing war - with children, older people and people with disabilities impacted by the long-term compounding effects of the crisis.   Joanna Garbalinska, Director of the Humanitarian NGO Platform in Ukraine, said: “As the war continues, life is far from normal. Civilians are living day-to-day under the threat of missiles and shells, which continue to hit populated civilian areas, inflicting death and destruction to areas near and far from the frontlines.   “The Humanitarian NGO Platform in Ukraine calls for all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure to cease immediately, particularly in dense urban areas, as they may amount to grave violations of international humanitarian law. Civilians must always be protected from violence.   Today marks a grim milestone of the war in Ukraine. As the fighting heads into its third year since the escalation, humanitarian agencies in Ukraine remind member states of promises made to tackle this crisis. Today, humanitarian support is more needed than ever. Long-term funding commitments for humanitarian and recovery efforts – with Ukrainian civil society in the lead – are critical for the safety of civilians and for Ukraine’s future.”   Feb. 2024 (UN News)   United Nations General Assembly President Dennis Francis urged countries to stand with the people of Ukraine “in their quest for justice and peace” marking two years of Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country.   “As we reflect on the two years of anguish and hardship, let us emerge from this place with a resounding message of solidarity and unwavering support to the resilient people of Ukraine,” he said, as fresh strikes were reported on the cities of Odesa and Dnipro, just one day after deadly attacks in the Donetsk region, located in the east.   Addressing representatives of the UN’s 193 Member States gathered in the General Assembly, Mr. Francis stated that they “can neither be blind to the ongoing destruction and devastation, nor ignore the plight of the people of Ukraine.”   “This is especially so, because this year also coincides with the tenth anniversary of the 2014 attempted illegal annexation of Crimea and other Ukrainian territories by the Russian Federation,” he added.   Russia’s full-scale invasion began on 24 February 2022. Since then, thousands of people have been killed and injured, millions more uprooted, and schools, hospitals and other critical infrastructure damaged. Scores of Ukrainian children have also been forcibly deported to Russia.   Mr. Francis said the impact of this “needless war” extends far beyond the borders of Ukraine as the environment is also “the silent victim of the conflict”, while the real risk of a nuclear accident persists.   “And, ultimately, the war has affected every Member State – whether in the form of the soaring food prices or in the context of energy insecurity.”   The conflict has been a significant catalyst in undermining global geopolitics and geoeconomics, directly harming the countries involved while also impeding progress in many others, especially developing nations.   “It is actively undermining the very foundations of our UN Charter – threatening the principles of sovereignty, and territorial integrity we all committed to hold dear and to defend,” he said.   “It has disrupted international relations – at a time when unity, solidarity and cooperation are absolutely crucial to multilateral problem-solving.   Mr. Francis noted that while the 15-member UN Security Council has been paralyzed by division over the conflict, the General Assembly has condemned Russia’s aggression and demanded the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of its forces from Ukrainian territory.   “Beyond condemnations, we, the United Nations, must actively work towards a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace in line with the Charter of this organization,” he said.   The Assembly President called for redoubling efforts “to end wars and usher in a future of hope elsewhere, without exception.”   Russia’s full-scale invasion has taken a devastating toll on the mental health of Ukraine's youngest citizens, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).   The agency said boys and girls in frontline areas have been forced to spend between 3,000 and 5,000 hours – equivalent to between four to seven months – sheltering in basements, bunkers, or a hole in the ground.   Seeking safety from missiles and drones is coming at a great cost for these children, said UNICEF Spokesperson James Elder who was in the city of Kharkiv this week, where he spoke to families.   “Around three-quarters of young people have reported needing support; a fraction of those are getting it," he said. "So, the ongoing shelling, the increased use of drones - all this is building into an awareness that children continue to be killed, and it’s hindering families’ capacity to overcome the stress and trauma inflicted by this war."   Mr. Elder added that despite education being a fundamental source of hope and stability, it is chronically disrupted and beyond reach for a substantial segment of Ukraine's children.   "Children in frontline areas have been inside a school for a single week over the past four years - two years of COVID-19 and two years of full-scale war. In the Kharkiv region, two out of 700 schools are delivering in-person learning," he said.   http://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/ukraine-42-civilian-casualties-every-day-two-years-war-enuk http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2024/02/un-experts-urge-international-community-step-efforts-forge-peace-between-russia http://news.un.org/en/story/2024/02/1146887 http://news.un.org/en/interview/2024/02/1146752 http://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/iicihr-ukraine/index http://www.nrc.no/news/2024/february/ukraine-two-years-on-destruction-and-displacement-the-devastating-impacts-of-the-escalation-of-war-revealed-in-new-nrc-report/ http://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing-notes/full-scale-ukraine-war-enters-third-year-prolonging-uncertainty-and-exile http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/escalation-attacks-infrastructure-leaves-ukraines-children-without-sustained-access http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/ukraine-frontline-children-battling-mental-trauma-underground http://www.unocha.org/news/remember-ukraine-un-relief-chief-urges-attention-country-faces-3rd-year-war-and-occupation http://reliefweb.int/topics/ukraine-humanitarian-crisis   Jan. 2024   "Remember Ukraine" - UN relief chief Martin Griffiths urges attention as country faces 3rd year of war and occupation. Remarks to the press at the joint OCHA-UNHCR launch of the 2024 Ukraine Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan and the Regional Refugee Response Plan for Ukraine (Extract):   Next month, we will enter a third year and an unexpected, in my view, a third year of full-blown war and occupation. It started, of course, ten years ago in the east of the country. But the escalation in 2022 rushed in a whole new level of death, destruction and despair and, of course, of outflow of refugees.   Forty per cent of the population will need humanitarian assistance this year. That is 14.6 million people, 40 per cent of the population in Ukraine will need humanitarian aid. Four million people are internally displaced. That is in addition to those who are externally displaced; 3.3 million live in frontline communities in the east and south where the war goes on, under relentless bombardment – 3.3 million people living in the middle of war zones, of bombardment, of uncertainty about where the day will end. And that is really a shockingly high number, even these days.   No place in Ukraine is untouched by the war and the wave of attacks that began just before the new year, to the devastating civilian cost of the war. Add to that the harsh winter, which is sweeping across Ukraine and ratcheting up people's need for lifesaving support, heating, proper shelter, warm clothes and a sufficient calorie intake because of the winter.   In the small towns and villages on the front lines, people have exhausted their own meager resources and rely on aid coming in through the convoys of our partners to survive. In the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, families live in damaged houses with no piped water, gas or electricity in the freezing cold.   Constant bombardments force older people to spend their days in basements. Children – terrified, traumatized, still – have lived for the last [two] years under these circumstances, trapped indoors and many of them with no schooling.   Across Ukraine, homes, schools and hospitals are repeatedly hit. Basic services are not spared. Water, gas and power systems. Indeed, the very fabric of society, how we live – employment, schools, care centers, shopping, safety of access to those places daily – is under threat.   But it is worth taking a moment to remember that Ukrainians refuse to buckle under this extraordinary onslaught. And they refuse to resign. People step up for each other. Community spirit remains high. They volunteer to help deliver relief to those who cannot move, some warm shelter, care for children.   No less than 60 per cent of our 500 humanitarian partners are Ukrainian organizations. So, 500 humanitarian organizations operating inside Ukraine, delivering aid inside Ukraine, more than half of them are Ukrainian organizations. A testament really to the community spirit of so many people in that country.   We aim to reach more than 8.5 million people this year with water and hygiene services, materials to repair homes, winter clothes, supplies and things that I have already referred to. The plan for 8.5 million focuses, as you know from the math, on the most vulnerable. Those who are close to the frontline are the top priority. And every day, convoys are sent out to reach those in danger, as are the convoys in danger. Aid will be delivered across the country to areas we can reach by these comprehensive programmes on these convoys, in partnership with local NGOs, local partners I referred to and complementing the Ukrainian Government's own efforts.   And our relationship with the Ukrainian Government remains steady, strong, supportive, and we act under their guidance, under their leadership and often under their direction. We are asking donors for more funding for 2024.   No one wants to depend on assistance from outsiders to cover life's basic needs. This is true across the world, whether in Gaza, Sudan or Syria or elsewhere. No one wants to depend on such assistance. But there is no choice for those 14 .6 million who need assistance, 8.5 million of whom we are targeting. They need help. They need this funding because humanitarian aid remains the lifeline without which they will perish.   As the war continues unabated, without signs that I am aware of, of coming to some conclusion, and amid everything else happening across the globe, we must stay the course for the people of Ukraine.   http://www.unocha.org/news/remember-ukraine-un-relief-chief-urges-attention-country-faces-3rd-year-war-and-occupation   Jan. 2024   The people of Ukraine have suffered another vast wave of airstrikes today, continuing a pattern of Russian attacks against densely populated cities and towns across the country that intensified on 29 December. Today’s overnight strikes have shaken the capital Kyiv, with residents reporting heavy sounds of explosions for several hours, particularly early in the morning.   The aerial assault also seriously impacted civilians in Kyivska Oblast and Kharkiv City, leaving behind a path of death and injury as well as destruction of homes, energy and other civilian infrastructure.   According to preliminary data shared by the Ukrainian authorities, nearly 100 people have been injured and at least 4 killed today, adding to the death toll reported over the past few days. In total, nearly 70 civilians have reportedly been killed and at least 360 injured due to airstrikes across the country since 29 December. The numbers are pending verification and might increase further as rescue operations continue. Russian authorities also reported new attacks in Belgorod Region, on the border with Ukrainian’s Kharkivska Oblast.   The new attacks and relentless hostilities have left hundreds of thousands of people without electricity and water supplies, at a time when forecasts indicate that temperatures might drop to -20 degrees Celsius in the coming days. In Kyiv and Kyivska Oblast alone, more than 250,000 people have been temporarily cut off from power supplies following today’s strikes, which also impacted the water supply in several districts of the capital, according to Ukrenergo, the state-owned energy operator and Government sources.   Damages to energy infrastructure due to hostilities have left over 440 towns and villages without power supplies, mainly In the east, according to the Ministry of Energy. In addition, since 29 December, the World Health Organization’s Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care (SSA) has verified that at least 10 health-care facilities have been damaged across Ukraine.   The bombardments and destruction not only expose millions to the risk of death or injury, but also other serious protection risks.   In Kyiv, humanitarian workers in the city counted over 30 explosions, and damages have been reported in nine of the capital’s ten districts. Teams from the emergency services rescued some 20 people from under the debris, as search and rescue operations continue. The city authorities informed that nearly 50 residents have been injured and nearly 40 hospitalized.   Across Kyivska oblast, several areas have been impacted, reportedly leaving over 30 apartment buildings, at least two schools damaged, according to local authorities.   The city of Kharkiv, was badly impacted again, adding to the damage and loss caused by almost daily attacks over the past few days. Humanitarian workers in the city have witnessed significant damage in residential areas, and preliminary findings of assessments indicate over 70 buildings have been damaged in the city since 29 December. Gas and heating supply facilities were damaged today, leading to power cuts and heating disruptions in some parts of the city. At the time of the reporting nearly 50 civilians, including 5 children, had been injured, and most of them had to be rushed to hospitals.   Bombardments have also damaged homes and impacted civilians in other parts of Ukraine, including in Lvivska Oblast in the west, where education facilities and residential buildings have been hit.   Over the past few days, children have been killed or injured in Kherson and Odesa, as well as Donetska Oblast, the south and east of Ukraine.   Homes have also been hit Chernihivska and Sumska in the north, where cross-border shelling and has been relentless, while intense hostilities reportedly killed and injured several civilians and damaged homes and energy facilities in front-line communities of Dnipropetrovska, Donetska, Khersonska, Odeska and Zaporizka oblasts, including in the Russian occupied areas.   Humanitarian partners continue to provide aid to people impacted by these waves of strikes, in close coordination with local authorities, and in support to teams from the State Emergency Service working to rescue people trapped from under the rubble.   22 Jan. 2024   Ukraine: UN rights office deplores attack in Russian-occupied Donetsk. (UN News)   The UN human rights office (OHCHR) strongly condemned a weekend attack on the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine which left scores dead and injured.   At least 27 civilians were reportedly killed and a further 25 injured in the Donetsk attacks that struck local markets and a nearby residential area in the city, according to media reports.   OHCHR is trying to obtain more information about the attack, despite its lack of access to the city and other occupied areas in Ukraine, Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.   “It is crucial that thorough, prompt and independent investigations be carried out to determine the facts and responsibility for this attack,” she said. “The investigation should establish whether this attack violated applicable law on the conduct of hostilities, with a view to ensuring accountability.”   Ms. Shamdasani also stressed the need to ensure strict respect for international humanitarian law and for the parties to the conflict to take all necessary precautions to protect civilians from harm.   Addressing the UN Security Council in New York, Adedeji Ebo, Deputy UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, reiterated the “duty” of warring sides to protect civilians.   “This is an unambiguous obligation,” he said. “Let me say it again: attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international law. All such attacks must stop immediately.”   OHCHR has verified 10,287 civilians killed and a further 19,444 injured sine Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began on 24 February 2022. The actual figures are likely far higher.   Mr. Ebo said continued attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure were seriously distressing, adding that the use of aerial drones and missiles had resulted in many deaths and injuries.   “Just like any other weapons or weapons systems, armed uncrewed aerial vehicles and missiles must not be used in a manner inconsistent with international humanitarian law,” he said.   “The only way to end the suffering and devastation is by ending this war,” Mr. Ebo said.   The war continues to inflict “immeasurable human suffering” and putting millions at risk of serious violations and generating grave humanitarian needs, according to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).   Millions across Ukraine have been forced from their homes, including nearly six million living as refugees outside its borders. Prolonged displacement has pushed many to the brink. In 2024, 14.6 million people – about 40 per cent of the Ukrainian population – require humanitarian assistance.   http://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/ukraine-humanitarian-response-2023-winter-attacks-humanitarian-impact-intensified-strikes-and-hostilities-flash-update-4-2-jan-2024-enuk http://tinyurl.com/494npftk http://reliefweb.int/country/ukr http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/least-two-children-reportedly-killed-and-15-injured-latest-wave-deadly-attacks http://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/secretary-general-condemns-strongest-terms-overnight-large-scale-attacks-russian-federation-ukrainian-cities-civilians-critical-infrastructure http://dppa.un.org/en/mtg-sc-9523-asg-khiari-ukraine-29-dec-2023 http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/12/comment-un-high-commissioner-human-rights-volker-turk-attacks-ukraine http://news.un.org/en/tags/ukraine Visit the related web page
	View more stories