UN News Today 17 February 2025 |

UN launches $6 billion Sudan appeal – ‘one of most devastating crises of our time’

More than one in two people in war-torn Sudan have too little to eat, famine “is taking hold” and sexual violence is rife, the UN’s top aid official said on Monday.

Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher issued the warning as UN agencies launched an appeal for $6 billion to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan and beyond.

“Civilians [are] paying the highest price, shelling, airstrikes [are] continuing unabated, killing and injuring civilians, damaging and destroying critical infrastructure, including hospitals,” Mr. Fletcher said.

“Fighting in South Kordofan in recent weeks – another state in which famine conditions have recently been confirmed. And across the country, women and girls continue to suffer through appalling patterns of conflict-related sexual violence. Young men, boys, forcibly recruited, used in combat, millions of children cut off from education. The collapse of the education system has compounded the risks faced by Sudanese girls: child marriage, gender-based violence.”

The UN aid chief said he had spoken to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan – leader of the Sudanese Armed Forces – about the importance of keeping the key Adre crossing open from Chad – but it only provides “a fraction of what is needed” with movement severely limited by burdensome bureaucracy, Mr. Fletcher said.

The UN 2025 humanitarian and refugee response plans for Sudan aim to assist nearly 26 million people inside the country and across the region.

DR Congo crisis: WFP condemns looting in Bukavu after M23 rebels move in

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has condemned the looting of thousands of tonnes of relief supplies in the city of Bukavu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels swept in at the weekend, reportedly meeting little resistance.

In an online message on Monday, the WFP said that it “condemns the pillage of its warehouses in Bukavu in South Kivu”, which were meant to provide vital support to the most vulnerable.

Looters made off with 7,000 tonnes of humanitarian food supplies, the agency said, adding that as violence spreads and access to food becomes increasingly difficult, WFP stands ready to resume essential food aid “as soon as it is safe to do so”.

The UN agency also urged all parties to the conflict “to respect their obligations vis-à-vis international humanitarian law”, which includes the protection of civilians and humanitarian workers.

The development came as M23 fighters made continuing gains in eastern DRC, after taking control of Goma – capital of North Kivu province – at the end of January.

Human Rights Council probe continues into South Sudan’s forgotten crisis

Top independent rights experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council on Monday launched a new investigation into grave abuses in South Sudan that followed a power struggle after the country’s declaration of independence in 2011, amid ongoing violence, sexual violence and abductions committed by rival militaries.

The Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan is to spend four days meeting survivors of documented abuse linked to the conflict, characterized by killings and violence based on gender and corruption for more than a decade.

In the past, the Commissioners have condemned the pervasive violence and impunity fuelling the crisis in South Sudan.

In April 2023, they named Government officials responsible for serious crimes, including the crime against humanity of sexual violence. “All remain in office, none [has been] held accountable and many have continued perpetrating rights violations,” the right experts noted last year.

Daniel Johnson, UN News

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