UN News Today 18 September 2026 |

Yemen crisis worsening rapidly: UN agencies

People displaced by the renewed fighting in Yemen have described fleeing for their lives amid shelling and gunfire, aid agencies reported on Friday.

In nearby Djibouti, thousands have also sought shelter, risking their lives on the dangerous Bab el-Mandab Strait sea crossing from Yemen. 

In just two weeks since clashes erupted between Saudi-backed Yemeni Government forces and Iran-backed Houthi militia, more than 112,000 people have been displaced across Aden, Hudaydah, Abyan and Taiz in Yemen. 

Francesco Galtieri from UNFPA, the UN reproductive health agency, described one woman’s ordeal:

“She came from Mocha with her four daughters and she’s one of those who had to run away under the shelling, got burned because of the shelling and did not stop running until she could reach a safe place. And she told to us that she’s exhausted and she really hopes that beyond having kept their lives, there will be something else they can build.”

Years of conflict, economic collapse and environmental disaster have already displaced nearly 4.8 million Yemenis, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

The UN migration agency, IOM, warned that its resources are now running out inside the country, while the World Health Organization stressed that the country already faces multiple health risks, including cholera, measles, dengue, diphtheria, malnutrition and trauma.

Sexual violence by Russian forces is widespread against Ukraine prisoners

To Ukraine, where aside from ongoing deadly Russian drone strikes and bombing, UN human rights investigators have published a report providing strong evidence of widespread sexual violence against civilians and prisoners of war held by the Russian Federation.

The report alleges more than 1,000 incidents since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.

The youngest documented rape survivor was a four-year-old-girl and the oldest an 82-year-old woman.

Danielle Bell is head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine:

“It occurred throughout captivity from capture, admission procedures, transfer, interrogation in the cells in the shower, even before release or exchange. And we documented the same practices occurring across facilities: rape, gang rape, beatings while nude, electric shocks or beatings of the genitals, separate sexual degradation and prolonged nudity and forced nudity. These violations involved personnel from multiple Russian State structures, including armed forces.”

The investigator noted that almost three quarters of the Ukrainian prisoner of war survivors – and almost half of civilian detainee survivors – experienced sexual violence more than once. 

The UN report documents cases at over 164 official and unofficial facilities in every region of occupied territory of Ukraine, and across 25 regions of the Russian Federation.

The publication covers sexual violence against Ukrainian and Russian prisoners of war, along with civilian detainees held by both sides.

Sudan aid lifeline could fail within two weeks

The UN migration agency, IOM, has warned that its aid pipeline for Sudan could start to run out of vital relief supplies within two weeks.

The shared mechanism helps humanitarian organizations deliver critical shelter, non-food items and hygiene kits to people in need across Sudan.

Since July 2023 it has reached more than 2.8 million people via a network of more than 100 registered partners. 

IOM said that shelter provided through the pipeline will run out in two weeks without further funding support. 

The agency needs $15 million to sustain the mechanism for 12 months and support 305,000 people.

Across Sudan today, 8.6 million people are internally displaced and they live alongside 4.9 million returnees, amid ongoing heavy fighting between government forces and paramilitary rebels who’ve been at war since April 2023. 

Daniel Johnson, UN News