The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | UNICEF , IOM
Sudan sexual violence and famine alert UNICEF - IOM 13 August 2024
Sexual violence and famine stalk Sudan’s displaced: UNICEF, IOM
Sudan’s deepening humanitarian crisis caused by nearly 16 months of war has left countless women and girls subject to sexual violence and rape and tens of thousands of children at risk of death from hunger, UN aid teams said on Tuesday.
Speaking from Sudan, UN Children’s Fund spokesperson James Elder described meeting a senior medical worker at a hospital outside Khartoum who had “direct contact with hundreds, hundreds of women and girls, some as young as eight years old, who have been raped. Many have been held captive for weeks on end. She also spoke of the distressing number of babies born – born after rape - who are being abandoned now.”
In an update to journalists in Geneva via videolink from the wartorn country, Mr. Elder maintained that “countless atrocities” upon children had gone unreported, often as a result of very limited access. He also warned that without action, tens of thousands of Sudanese children may die over the coming months, “and that is by no means a worst-case scenario…if there is a measles outbreak, if there is diarrhoea, or if there are respiratory infections, then the terrifying outlook for children in Sudan dramatically worsens. Remembering that in the current living conditions, with the heavy rains and the flooding, these diseases will spread like wildfire. ”
Echoing that grim update, the UN migration agency, IOM, noted that flooding has added to the daily challenges facing millions of people whose lives have been uprooted by a battle for control of the country by rival militaries beginning in April 2022, stemming from the overthrow of long-time President Omar al-Bashir in 2019.
Just last week, global food security experts at the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Famine Review Committee (FRC) reported famine conditions in parts of North Darfur including Zamzam camp near Al Fasher town. The camp is home to half a million displaced people confronted by extreme food scarcity, which has fuelled malnutrition and death.
“The scale of devastation brought by the escalating violence in El Fasher town is profound and harrowing,” the IPC report’s authors noted, amid “persistent, intense and widespread clashes [that] have forced many residents to seek refuge in IDP camps, where they face a stark reality: basic services are scant or absent, compounding the hardship of displacement.”
According to IOM, almost all internally displaced persons across Sudan - 97 per cent - are in localities with acute levels of food insecurity or worse.
Worryingly, latest data from the UN agency shows that displacement continues to soar, with more than 10.7 million people seeking safety within the country and many displaced twice or more. Fighting in Sennar state alone displaced over 700,000 people last month with 63 per cent of this number originally displaced from other states, the majority from Khartoum.
Speaking from Port Sudan via video to journalists in Geneva, IOM’s Chief of Mission in the country, Mohamed Refaat, said that more the one in three of Sudan’s internally displaced have come from Khartoum. “That's almost the whole capital of the country has been displaced, so imagine the scale of displacement,” he said.
Citing ongoing aid access obstacles which have prevented UN humanitarians and partners from reaching some of the most vulnerable civilians in Sudan, the IOM officer said that a large number of civilians remain “trapped” in a “very hostile war environment” and with no access to health care services. Many have had to walk large distances in a bid to secure food amid “skyrocketing” prices. “There is a shortage in everything,” Mr. Refaat explained, highlighting how “militias” had also seized control of various locations, restricting the movement of non-combatants.
STORY: Sudan sexual violence and famine alert – UNICEF, IOM
TRT: 2 min 50s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 13 AUGUST 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior medium: UN Geneva flag alley.
- Medium-wide, Press room, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – James Elder, spokesperson, UNICEF (via Zoom from Sudan): “Yesterday in Khartoum, I spoke to a senior medical worker who gave an insight into the magnitude of sexual violence during this war. She explained she has had direct contact with hundreds, hundreds of women and girls, some as young as eight years old, who have been raped. Many have been held captive for weeks on end. She also spoke of the distressing number of babies born – born after rape - who are being abandoned now.”
- Medium-wide, Press room, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – James Elder, spokesperson, UNICEF: “Without action, tens of thousands of Sudanese children may die over the coming months, tens of thousands. And that is by no means a worst-case scenario. Any disease outbreak and we will see mortality skyrocket. Disease is our greatest fear.”
- Wide, Press room, UN Geneva, TV screens showing outside speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Mohamed Refaat, IOM Sudan Chief of Mission (From Port Sudan): “Between 24 June and up to date - so this is less than one and a half months - we have counted 736,000 who have been displaced. This is only one frontline. If you add to this the others - I give you an example, Khartoum: out of the 10.7 million internally displaced in Sudan, 35 per cent of them are coming from the capital of Sudan, Khartoum. That's almost the whole capital of the country has been displaced. So imagine the scale of displacement.”
- Medium-wide, Press room, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Mohamed Refaat, IOM Sudan Chief of Mission (From Port Sudan): “We still have a large number of civilians who are trapped, extremely, under very hostile war environment, zero access to health care services. They walk for hundreds, maybe of metres or kilometres, many of them under a very hostile environment trying to secure food. The food prices are skyrocketing. There is a shortage in everything. There are militias who have taken several properties all over the places. So there are civilians who are trapped there, they can't get out, maybe they don't have a place to go out.”
- SOUNDBITE (English) – James Elder, spokesperson, UNICEF: ”
- Medium-wide, Press room, UN Geneva, TV monitors showing external speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – James Elder, spokesperson, UNICEF: “If there is a measles outbreak, if there is diarrhoea, or if there are respiratory infections, then the terrifying outlook for children in Sudan dramatically worsens. Remembering that in the current living conditions, with the heavy rains and the flooding, these diseases will spread like wildfire. ”
- Medium-wide, journalists and TV monitors showing Mr. Elder speaking via video link.
- Medium-wide, journalists and TV screens.
- Medium, participants, journalists.
- Medium, journalists.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , OHCHR , UNFPA , UNOG , UNHCR , WHO
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis growing by the hour amid spike in displacement
Yemenis displaced by renewed fighting have described fleeing for their lives amid shelling and gunfire, aid agencies reported on Friday, while highlighting the dramatic increase in humanitarian needs in the country and in Djibouti, where thousands have sought shelter.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office issued on Friday a report documenting a shocking pattern of sexual violence amid Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine.
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
ends
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in DR Congo continues to spread across the vast country despite some success in containing it, aid officials said on Tuesday, in a renewed call for international support to help responders on the ground.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WFP
‘Super El Niño’ and converging crises worsen hunger in South Sudan and across the region - WFP
South Sudan’s hunger crisis is becoming increasingly catastrophic as violence, extreme weather and dwindling aid leave millions without enough food, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
In war-torn Gaza, a growing number of women-headed households face “impossible decisions” every day, amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes and still-scarce resources, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk made the following remarks to the Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar at the 63rd Human Rights Council.
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk today delivered an update on the global human rights situation to the 63rdsession of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated attacks on humanitarian warehouses put vital medical aid at risk in Ukraine - WHO
A new airstrike overnight damaged one of the main warehouses used by the UN health agency to store humanitarian medical supplies in the Kyiv region, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. This is the third attack to affect a WHO-used storage in the last three months.
2
2
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WMO
Powerful El Niño heightens extreme-weather risks through 2027, as countries brace for impact - WMO
Fuelled by extraordinarily warm waters across the tropical Pacific Ocean, the El Niño climate pattern is expected to intensify in the coming months. Forecasters are almost certain that it will persist through February next year, with unusually warm conditions expected across the globe.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , IFRC , UN WOMEN , WHO
Nepal flood deaths near 1,000 as those spared struggle to survive – UN humanitarians
With the death toll in Nepal’s catastrophic flash floods inching towards 1,000, rescue workers are facing harsh conditions while survivors lack access to food, safe water and health care, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNDRR , IFRC , WHO
Nepal: Flooding disaster “not over” as humanitarians work around the clock
While search and rescue efforts continued Friday following flash floods and mudslides in northern Nepal, UN humanitarians are taking stock of the devastation amid concerns over more flooding to come.