UN News Today 14 April 2026 |

War in Sudan sets economy back 30 years

Sudan’s economy has been pushed back by more than 30 years since the brutal war there between rival militaries erupted in April 2023, and extreme poverty could rise above 60 per cent if fighting continues to the end of the decade.

That’s according to a new report from the UN Development Programme, UNDP, and the Institute for Security Studies.

Released on Monday, on the eve of the conflict’s third anniversary, the analysis estimates that Sudan lost $6.4 billion in GDP in 2023 alone, while nearly seven million people were pushed into extreme poverty in a single year. 

Average incomes have fallen to levels last seen in 1992, while poverty rates are now worse than in the 1980s. More than 13 million people have also been displaced.

UNDP Resident Representative Luca Renda warned that the conflict is driving the “systematic erosion” of Sudan’s future.

The report says that even if the war ends in 2026, recovery will be slow, but with peace and sustained reforms, 17.3 million people could escape extreme poverty by 2043.

‘Grief, fear and exhaustion hang heavy in the air’ across Lebanon

Violence is escalating in southern Lebanon, with the UN Security Council set to convene on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing crisis and a historic first encounter between Israeli and Lebanese envoys takes place in Washington.

Amid intensified Israeli ground operations, Lebanese authorities have reported at least 2,089 deaths since 2 March. 

Meanwhile, healthcare workers are exhausted, working through their own trauma to save others. 

“The loss is immense,” said the UN reproductive health agency UNFPA’s representative in Lebanon, Anandita Philipose. 

“Across Lebanon, grief, fear and exhaustion hang heavy in the air. Families are still desperately looking for loved ones. New mothers cradle newborns, uncertain if safety will ever return.”

An estimated 13,500 displaced pregnant women need urgent maternal and reproductive healthcare, including 1,700 that are still in southern Lebanon, which is under constant attack. 

Gender-based violence is threatening 620,000 displaced women and girls in Lebanon, Ms. Philipose said, adding that last Wednesday alone resulted in the deaths of 99 women and 31 children. 

A third of displaced Venezuelans in Latin America are thinking about returning

Turning finally to Venezuela, where more than one third of Venezuelans living elsewhere in Latin America would consider returning home within the next 12 months to five years if socioeconomic and other conditions there improved, according to the UN’s refugee agency. 

As of November 2025, 6.9 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants were hosted in Latin America and the Caribbean, including 4 million in need of assistance. 

Of the over 1,200 Venezuelans interviewed across six Latin American countries between January and March this year, just nine per cent considered returning within a year with the primary motivation cited as family reunification. 

The majority do not currently intend to return due to fears over recovery of the labour market, security and the availability of reliable services. 

Meanwhile, millions of Venezuelans are rebuilding their lives and contributing to host communities. Some of those surveyed reported improved security, employment and essential services in their host countries as they shape decisions about return.

Ed De Bray, UN News