UN News Today 30 January 2026 |

Darfur’s children living on a thin line between abandonment and hope

Having just returned from a 10-day mission to Darfur in Sudan, the UN Children’s Agency (UNICEF) Spokesperson for the country, Eva Hinds spoke to journalists in Geneva on Friday about what she experienced there.

The prolonged conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has led to what the UN calls the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. 

Ms. Hinds said that reaching a single Darfuri child can take days of negotiation, security clearances and travel across sand roads amid shifting frontlines. 

UNICEF’s work is also critical in places like Tawila in North Darfur State, where over 500,000 people have found shelter in makeshift homes made of hay, sticks and plastic sheeting.

It is under these conditions, Ms. Hinds says, that UNICEF and partners are providing support.

“In just two weeks, UNICEF and partners vaccinated over 140,000 children, treated thousands for illness and malnutrition, restored safe water to tens of thousands, opened temporary classrooms, and provided food, protection, and psychosocial care. It is painstaking, precarious work – delivered one convoy, one clinic, one classroom at a time – but for children in Darfur, it is the thin line between being abandoned and being reached.”

Myanmar: Türk says military-run elections have exacerbated violence, social division

As Myanmar marks five years since the military coup this weekend, UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Friday deplored that the conduct of the recent military-run elections where opposition candidates were barred from standing – is a flagrant abuse of citizens’ rights.

Speaking for Mr. Türk in Geneva on Friday, OHCHR spokesperson Jeremy Laurence described the conditions under which the elections took place. 

“Many people chose either to vote or not to vote purely out of fear, flatly at odds with their internationally guaranteed civil and political rights – and with ripple effects on their enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. The conflict and insecurity continued unabated in large parts of the country. Opposition candidates and some ethnic groups were excluded.”

Elections were held in only 263 of 330 townships, often in urban centers under military control, resulting in the exclusion of large segments of the population, such as the ethnic Rohingya. 

Further, credible sources verified that 170 civilians were killed in some 408 military aerial attacks reported by open sources during the voting period – December 2025 and January 2026. 

Voter coercion was reported nationwide and the main opposition party – the National League for Democracy, which won the previous vote in late 2020 – along with dozens of other parties opposed to the military’s rule, were banned from taking part.

Mr. Türk called for all those arbitrarily detained to be released immediately, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and deposed President Win Myint.

UNICEF steps up winter response to protect children and families amid Ukraine’s harsh cold

Ukraine is once again facing a bitterly cold winter, with temperatures regularly dropping to around minus 20 degrees Celsius, or minus 4 Farenheit. 

The severe weather, combined with the widespread destruction of housing, energy, and heating infrastructure, continues to make the winter months particularly harsh, especially for children.

Among them is three-year-old Dasha, who has spent the past nine days in a flat without heating. Each night, her mother, Iryna, fills two five-litre plastic bottles with hot water and tucks them into Dasha’s cot. 

The challenges are compounded by rising poverty: among households with children, the rate has increased from 43 percent in 2021 to 65 percent in 2023.

Today, around 3.3 million people, including more than half a million children, remain displaced within Ukraine.

Last year, the UN children agency’s (UNICEF) winter response reached 2.3 million people, including 380,000 children. 

In 2026, UNICEF appealed for $65 million to meet the needs of at least one million vulnerable people including 170,000 children.

Drawing on lessons from past winter campaigns, UNICEF’s response this year will focus on providing cost-effective cash support to families and schools, and strengthening district heating systems to ensure long-term, sustainable warmth.

Ileana Exaras, UN News