Syria transition gains ground with Kurdish deal, but violence and humanitarian strain persist

Briefing ambassadors for the first time as Deputy Special Envoy, Claudio Cordone pointed to the 30 January ceasefire and integration agreement between the Syrian Government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as a potentially transformative development. The deal provides for a phased military and administrative integration of northeast Syria and includes provisions on the return […]

Political violence against MPs rising worldwide

Head of the IPU, Martin Chungong, told a UN conference in New York on Wednesday that “if the phenomenon goes uncontrolled, there will be major implications for democracies, parliaments and human rights worldwide”. In an interview with UN News, Valentina Grippo, an Italian MP with the European Delegation to the IPU – which partners with […]

Violence surges in South Sudan leaving civilians at risk and peacekeepers stretched thin

Violence surges in South Sudan leaving civilians at risk and peacekeepers stretched thin

Briefing ambassadors in the Security Council on Tuesday, UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix said instability had risen sharply in recent weeks, driven by political deadlock among signatories to the 2018 Revitalised Peace Agreement and a dangerous escalation in armed confrontations. Fighting has intensified most dramatically in Jonglei state, where clashes between Government forces and opposition […]

Guterres condemns escalating violence in South Sudan as aid operations come under fire

Guterres condemns escalating violence in South Sudan as aid operations come under fire

In a statement issued by his Deputy Spokesperson, Farhan Haq on Saturday, the UN chief said nearly 10 million people – “more than two thirds of the population” – now require life-saving humanitarian assistance and “continue to bear the brunt of the conflict”. He expressed grave concern over fighting, attacks and looting affecting humanitarian and […]

M23 rebels: UN sees progress in talks but warns violence persists

M23 rebels: UN sees progress in talks but warns violence persists

Qatar is facilitating discussions between the Congolese government and the M23 armed group, which controls large areas of North Kivu and South Kivu provinces. The latest developments follow months of intense fighting that has displaced civilians and destabilised the region. However, the UN warns that despite diplomatic momentum, the security situation on the ground remains […]

UN chief ‘deeply concerned’ by escalation of violence in South Sudan

The tensions are concentrated in South Sudan’s Jonglei State, where many deaths and injuries have been reported in response to renewed fighting between opposition militia and army forces, leading to the displacement of 180,000 people.  According to news reports, the army launched a major offensive in Jonglei against opposition forces, ordering civilian evacuations on Sunday […]

Violence roiling Nigeria extends beyond religious lines, amid a deepening humanitarian crisis

The strikes thrust Nigeria’s long-running sectarian bloodshed into the global spotlight – and revived claims that a “Christian genocide” is unfolding in Africa’s most populous country. But in an interview, the UN’s top humanitarian official in the country has told UN News that the current crisis extends far beyond any single community or conflict. Violence, […]

South Sudan: UN and rights experts warn against risk of mass violence in Jonglei

UNMISS expressed grave concern following reports that a senior military leader is urging troops to inflict discriminate violence against civilians, with more than 180,000 people fleeing their homes.   “Inflammatory rhetoric calling for violence against civilians, including the most vulnerable, is utterly abhorrent and must stop now,” Graham Maitland, Officer in Charge, said on Sunday.  Ongoing hostilities  South Sudan – the […]

Syria: Violence in Alawite areas may be war crimes, say rights investigators

Syria: Violence in Alawite areas may be war crimes, say rights investigators

Many of the victims were Alawite, a minority community in Syria, which the former ruling Assad family belonged to.   Some community members are believed to have been killed in March by forces or individuals loyal to the country’s new leadership, the National Transitional Authority, which is headed by interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa. In response […]

Syria: Ceasefire under strain as violence and aid access issues persist in Sweida

Syria: Ceasefire under strain as violence and aid access issues persist in Sweida

The 19 July truce followed weeks of sectarian clashes, Israeli airstrikes and grave human rights violations in the southern governorate, also known as As-Sweida. As a result, more than 190,000 people have been displaced there and in neighbouring Dar’a and Rural Damascus governorates. The fighting also caused severe damage to infrastructure and to livelihoods.  Electricity […]

Violence in northern Mozambique forces thousands to flee, straining aid efforts

Violence in northern Mozambique forces thousands to flee, straining aid efforts

The displacement is the latest consequence of a cascade of overlapping emergencies in the country – including armed violence, climate shocks, disease outbreaks and a severe funding shortfall. Since January, over 95,000 people have fled insecurity in Cabo Delgado and humanitarian access is becoming increasingly fragile. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of […]

Syria: Deadly sectarian violence displaces thousands in Sweida; healthcare attacked

Syria: Deadly sectarian violence displaces thousands in Sweida; healthcare attacked

Since 13 July, around 176,000 people have been displaced from Sweida,  according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Mostly migrating to neighbouring Dar’a and Rural Damascus governorates, civilians are fleeing violent clashes between Bedouin tribal fighters, Syrian caretaker government forces and Druze militias. Meanwhile in the north of the country, […]

Haiti: Violence and displacement driving humanitarian crisis as funding needs go unmet

Haiti: Violence and displacement driving humanitarian crisis as funding needs go unmet

Nearly 1.3 million people in the Caribbean country have fled their homes, with an additional 15,000 uprooted last week after armed attacks in the communes of Dessalines and Verrettes in the Artibonite department. Further, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and its partners have screened more than 217,000 children for acute malnutrition in 2025. Some 21,500 […]

Syria: Ongoing violence fuelling mass displacement in Sweida

Syria: Ongoing violence fuelling mass displacement in Sweida

More than 93,000 Syrians have been displaced across Sweida, neighbouring Dar’a governorate and Rural Damascus due to escalating violence in the city,  UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said at Monday’s daily press briefing in New York. Most displaced people in Sweida are staying with local communities or in one of 15 reception centres, while around 30 […]

Desks become beds as Haitian school shelters people displaced by violence

Desks become beds as Haitian school shelters people displaced by violence

The classrooms at Anténor Firmin school in Hinche in central Haiti are no longer studiously quiet. Once a place of learning, it now echoes with the sounds of babies crying, water containers clanking, and voices murmuring through the night. Over 700 people displaced by violence are crammed into the crumbling compound, sleeping on floors where […]

World News in Brief: Violence in Haiti, rising insecurity in DR Congo, expert panel on nuclear war

World News in Brief: Violence in Haiti, rising insecurity in DR Congo, expert panel on nuclear war

Displaced Haitians are dispersed among the 250 active displacement sites across the country, most of which are informal. Just over a fifth of these sites are managed by humanitarian organizations, meaning that many are living in precarious conditions.   In June alone, more than 200 alerts were reported across displacement sites, over 80 per cent of […]

Syria crisis: Hundreds killed in ongoing violence, hospitals overwhelmed

Syria crisis: Hundreds killed in ongoing violence, hospitals overwhelmed

Briefing reporters in Geneva, UN human rights office, OHCHR, spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani highlighted “credible” reports of “widespread violations and abuses, including summary executions and arbitrary killings, kidnappings, destruction of private property and looting of homes” in the city of Sweida. “Among the reported perpetrators were members of the security forces and individuals affiliated with the […]