Health

In Ethiopia, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights today urged all parties to take urgent steps towards de-escalation, warning that recent fighting in Tigray risks deepening the human rights crisis in the country’s north.

In Somalia, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that severe drought conditions continue to displace people across the country. According to authorities and UN agencies, nearly half a million people have now abandoned their homes since September 2025.

In Ukraine, the Humanitarian Coordinator there called for Moscow’s attacks on critical infrastructure to stop, as thousands face harsh winter conditions amid a new round of weekend attacks. According to local authorities, between 23 January and today, those attacks killed and injured several civilians, including children.

In Bangladesh, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has launched an emergency response following a large fire in a Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar on 20 January. Relief efforts are being carried out in close coordination with the Government of Bangladesh, as well as humanitarian partners.

In Mozambique, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that more than half a million people have been affected by recent floods, including in Gaza, Maputo and Sofala. Nearly 5,000 kilometres of roads are damaged across nine provinces, with the main road connecting Maputo to the rest of the country now inaccessible.

Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Ramiz Alakbarov has begun a three-day visit to the Gaza Strip. In Khan Younis, he met with displaced families who have been supported by the UN to move away from the flood-prone shoreline to Hamad City. He also visited Asda’a, where the UN has supported thousands of families for more than a year.

In Venezuela, the Pan American Health Organization, the World Health Organization’s regional arm, has received a shipment of 40 metric tons of essential medical and dialysis materials from the Government of Brazil, the first instalment of a package totalling up to 300 metric tons.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message on the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness, observed on 27 December:

Air strikes in Myanmar’s Rakhine State on 10 December hit the general hospital in Mrauk-U Township, killing more than 30 civilians and injuring more than 70 others, including patients, caregivers and medical staff. The World Health Organization (WHO) says this is the sixty-seventh verified attack on health in Myanmar this year.

In Sudan, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today called for urgent action to safeguard children and essential services in the country. UNICEF estimates that 10 million people have been displaced there; half of those 10 million are children. This is the highest level of child displacement in the world.