World News in Brief: 5 children killed in Sudan, Haiti hunger emergency, Yemen war update

The victims were three boys and two girls aged between seven and 14, according to Etleva Kadilli, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa.

The attack came a week after armed drone strikes reportedly killed at least 80 people, including women and children, in a busy market in Abyei.

Markets become morgues

“Markets are places where families buy food and people work to make a living. A trip to the market should never cost a child their life,” Ms. Kadilli said.

More than 400 children were reported killed or injured in Sudan between January and September this year. Armed drone attacks caused a significant share of these casualties, UNICEF said. Drone strikes have also damaged homes, schools, health facilities, water systems and markets.

“For children in Sudan, even the most ordinary parts of daily life are becoming increasingly dangerous,” Ms. Kadilli said.

“After more than three years of conflict, children in Sudan need greater protection from violence, not new ways for the conflict to reach them. The killing and injuring of children must end.”

Haiti: Emergency food kits help families facing growing hunger

More than 5.9 million people in Haiti face high levels of acute food insecurity, amid a deepening hunger crisis driven by violent insecurity and this year’s strong El Niño.

That’s the warning from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which cited the latest assessments indicating that the island nation has one of the highest levels of hunger in the world today, affecting more than one in two people.

“The issues around violence are impacting people’s access to markets, access to their land, access to agricultural inputs,” said Rein Paulsen, Director of FAO’s Office of Emergencies and Resilience.

“And then in addition to this, of course we have a very, very strong El Niño phenomenon, which is impacting many parts of the world. It’s impacting the Caribbean, and for Haiti this means much drier conditions than normal and higher temperatures.”

Inflation scourge

El Niño is expected to contribute to crop losses and delayed planting, pushing acute food insecurity in Haiti to even more critical levels next year. 

At the same time, inflation running at approximately 17 per cent is eroding purchasing power and reducing households’ access to sufficient and diversified food.

To help, FAO offers emergency assistance kits that include seeds, poultry and ducks, as well as goats and other animals. These help farmers start producing milk and eggs to sell at market immediately and give them access to food to sustain their families.

Separately, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Thursday that acute hunger is on track to reach record levels, with some 6.35 million people projected to face acute food insecurity between March and June next year.

WFP has supported 2.6 million people so far in 2026 and needs $78 million to sustain operations through March. 

The Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Haiti remains less than half funded.

Yemen: Vital medical supplies reach Taiz City, access challenges remain

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) has delivered trauma and emergency surgery kits to hospitals facing acute shortages in Taiz City, which remains almost entirely surrounded by Houthi forces.

The lifesaving shipment reached the city at the weekend and has been shared among several facilities, according to a WHO update on Wednesday.

The agency noted that movement restrictions in Taiz City have forced community midwives to stop working. Access to Taiz province from Government-controlled Aden and from the west coast also remains restricted.

WHO highlighted acute shortages of medicines, fuel and water in Taiz. 

Disease factor

It also warned of an increased risk of disease outbreaks: waste management has been disrupted, and the city’s dumps are too dangerous to reach because of the ongoing conflict.

Further north, in Marib governorate, primary healthcare is on the “verge of collapse” because of funding cuts. 

Only six out of 31 mobile medical teams are still operational and 15 health facilities have stopped functioning altogether.