UN News Today 19 January 2026 |

In Sudan, UN rights chief Türk highlights horrors of war

In Sudan, where the UN’s top human rights official Volker Türk has once again urged the international community to end widespread suffering there, including among the many survivors of sexual violence. 

It’s been nearly three years since war erupted in the vast East African nation, uprooting millions who remain in need of lifesaving humanitarian assistance.

They include women and girls fleeing the last military Government-held city of El Fasher in western Sudan, which was overrun by rival paramilitaries in October last year. 

One 20-year-old victim shared her story with the UN High Commissioner; here he is now:

“On the road to Garni village, there were lots of dead bodies. We saw armed men on camels who said, ‘Bring down the women.’  My brother tried to stop them, they shot him in his legs. My mother started crying and said, ‘Leave my children, take me instead of her.’ They hit her, took me, and told me to keep quiet, or they will kill my mother. Then what happened, happened. My period has not come since then.”

Speaking at the end of his visit to Sudan, Mr. Türk insisted that sexual violence is being used as a weapon of warfare; it is a war crime and a crime against humanity, he said.

Yemen: Children are dying and it’s going to get worse, aid veteran warns

In Yemen, renewed political instability threatens to complicate the already difficult task of helping vulnerable people suffering from deepening hunger, illness and displacement, the UN’s top aid official there said on Monday. 

The alert follows an attempt by forces affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council (STC) to expand into the strategically important eastern governorates of Hadramout and Al Mahra. 

This has since been reportedly reversed by Government-aligned forces backed by Saudi Arabia.

Here’s UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, Julien Harneis:

“The simple narrative is, children are dying and it’s going to get worse…My fear is that we won’t hear about it until the mortality and the morbidity significantly increases in this next year.”

The crisis comes after well over a decade of fighting between Houthi-led forces – who control the capital, Sana’a – and the internationally recognized government in Aden, backed by a Saudi-led military coalition.

Latest UN aid team data shows that more than 20 million Yemenis – about half the population – will face acute food insecurity next month, while tens of thousands could face famine-like conditions.

Myanmar rejects accusations of genocide at UN’s top court 

To the UN’s top court in The Hague, where Myanmar’s military leadership on Monday again refuted claims that it carried out genocide against Muslim minority Rohingya communities.

Representing Myanmar at the International Court of Justice, ICJ, legal counsel Sam Blom-Cooper dismissed victims’ testimonies about what had happened in August 2017, during military clearance operations that a former UN rights chief likened to “textbook” ethnic cleansing.

The lawyer told the court that an increased State military presence had deployed to northern Rakhine state in response to repeated attacks by the insurgent group ARSA – the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army – which had allegedly repeatedly attacked military and police facilities and murdered opponents.

Mr. Blom-Cooper insisted that the insurgents were known to be planning further attacks and that no “responsible sovereign State could or would sit back” and let such violence go unchecked.

Around 700,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar for neighbouring Bangladesh, escaping killings, sexual violence and arson, according to Human Rights Council probes. 

Nearly one million Rohingya remain outside their country.

The case continues until 29 January; the hearings are available to watch live on webtv.un.org.

Daniel Johnson, UN News