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.
Observances (fr)
Official observances
Launching its Humanitarian Action for Children 2026 appeal today, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is seeking $7.66 billion to provide life-saving support to 73 million children in 133 countries next year. This comes as severe shortfalls in 2024 and 2025 are forcing UNICEF to make impossible choices.
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.
Typhoons in South and South-East Asia have had a devastating impact on children’s education. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that since late November, more than 4.1 million children in Viet Nam, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia have had their education disrupted due to climate-related disasters.
In Gaza, UN humanitarian colleagues report that the humanitarian scale-up is well under way, even as insecurity persists, with frequent reports of attacks across the Gaza Strip causing casualties, including among civilians, causing further destruction.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) published their 2025 Myanmar Opium Survey, and that report found that poppy cultivation is at a 10-year high in the country. The survey analyses data collected in Myanmar during the fourth growing season since the military takeover.
In Mozambique, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is gravely concerned about intensifying attacks on villages and the rapid spillover into districts considered safe, with nearly 100,000 people displaced in the past fortnight alone. The violence, which began in Cabo Delgado in 2017, has displaced over 1.3 million people.
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for International Migrants Day, observed on 18 December:
In Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the city and region of Kyiv were hit by large-scale drone and missile strikes, killing and injuring several civilians. Up to 500,000 families in Kyiv lost electricity, with water and heating services disrupted. In Dnipro, an attack also killed and injured civilians.
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and the Prevention of this Crime, observed on 9 December: