UN News Today 23 December 2025 |

UN rights chief warns against violence and intimidation ahead of Myanmar elections 

The upcoming elections in Myanmar are “taking place in an environment of violence and repression,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned on Tuesday. 

The 28 December vote will be the first since the military seized power in a coup nearly five years ago. 

Ahead of the polls, both the military authorities and armed groups opposing them are threatening civilians about their participation, Mr. Türk said. 

He called for the military authorities to “stop using brutal violence to compel people to vote, and stop arresting people for expressing any dissenting views.” 

Dozens of people – including prominent figures – have reportedly been detained under an “election protection law” and some have received extremely harsh sentences. 

For example, three young people in the Yangon region were sentenced to more than 40 years in jail for hanging up anti-election posters. 

The UN human rights office, OHCHR, has also received reports from displaced people in several areas of Myanmar who have been warned that they would be attacked or their homes seized if they did not return to vote.  

DR Congo: WFP ramping up to reach thousands displaced by violence in South Kivu 

The World Food Programme (WFP) is scaling up assistance to more than 210,000 people displaced by recent violence in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). 

It’s estimated that 500,000 people have been forced to flee their homes since fighting erupted in South Kivu province earlier this month. 

As a result, basic services are on the brink of collapse, health facilities have been looted, medicines are unavailable, and schools remain closed. 

WFP aims to reach the most vulnerable displaced families and host communities with a survival package containing cereals, pulses, vegetable oil, iodized salt, and specialized nutrition to prevent malnutrition among young children and pregnant or breastfeeding women. 

The violence has also sparked displacement into neighbouring Burundi and Rwanda, where WFP is supporting thousands of new arrivals with hot meals and nutrition assistance. 

This latest crisis is happening at a time when WFP operations across the three countries are already severely underfunded.  Nearly $400 million is required to keep them up and running over the next six months. 

Humanitarian funding cuts impact Somalia drought response 

Funding cuts are also hampering efforts to assist millions of people affected by drought in Somalia, according to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA. 

Local authorities estimate that more than 4.6 million people across the country, roughly a quarter of the population, are impacted.  

OCHA warned that the upcoming dry season from January to March is expected to worsen drought conditions. 

Meanwhile, the UN and partners are mobilized – “supporting assessments, mapping available supply stocks, and coordinating emergency responses across water, food, nutrition, health and shelter sectors.”  

Humanitarians are also providing cash assistance, animal fodder and rehabilitating boreholes, while visiting field locations to assess the severity of the situation and reviewing resources for early action.   

However, their efforts are severely constrained by significant funding shortfalls.  

The $1.4 billion humanitarian response plan for Somalia this year has received only about $370 million, roughly a quarter of the required funding.  

Dianne Penn, UN News