World News in Brief: Risk of atrocities in Sudan, UN programme prevents climate displacement, more civilians killed in Ukraine

Published 1 July 2026 · world

UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Wednesday that drone strikes had recently damaged schools, a site housing internally displaced people and fuel stations and tankers

UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Wednesday that drone strikes had recently damaged schools, a site housing internally displaced people and fuel stations and tankers amid a significant buildup of Rapid Support Forces militia and allied troops in the North Kordofan capital. Tweet URL Several Member States are warning that an increasing number of deadly airstrikes have destroyed basic services, causing severe fuel and water shortages. “Siege-like conditions” have also left thousands trapped in El Obeid town cut off from basic services, according to officials from Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom. Concern is growing that the city may suffer the fate of El Fasher in Western Darfur earlier this year, where the RSF has been accused of carrying out grave rights violations – including in a new report from NGO Amnesty International on Wednesday. Following a request from those five Member States, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) will hold an urgent debate on Friday to discuss an international response to the human rights situation in Sudan. Ongoing violations UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed concern on 18 June about the RSF’s rapid buildup near El Obeid, warning that “the risk of summary executions, abduction, arbitrary detention and other violence against civilians is high, and must be prevented.” Sudan has been engulfed in war since 2023, when fighting erupted between the formerly allied Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.

The war has displaced more than 14 million people internally and driven millions more to the brink of famine, with humanitarian access severely constrained across much of the country. Conflict disrupts cholera response Sudan also faces concurrent outbreaks of cholera, malaria and dengue fever. The country currently has 1,102 cholera cases and 120 deaths since the outbreak began on Monday, said Dr. Shible Sahbani, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative and Head of Mission in Sudan. But the ongoing conflict has left 40 per cent of health facilities in Sudan non-functional and the remaining 60 per cent only partially functional, Dr. Sahbani said at a press conference on Wednesday. In response, Dr. Sahbani said the UN and its partners have rapidly mobilized to provide crucial support on the ground. Humanitarian partners have provided cholera kits to treat at least 3,000 patients, supported cholera treatment facilities and began a preventive campaign targeting more than 200,000 people. UN launches programme to prevent climate displacement The European Union (EU) and UN-affiliated International Organization for Migration (IOM) have launched a new regional programme to help southern African nations better anticipate, prevent and respond to climate displacement. Climate-related displacement continues to rise in Sub-Saharan Africa, which experiences recurring cyclones, floods and droughts.