The UN’s top humanitarian official in Sudan has warned of an impending catastrophe in Darfur, with civilians facing relentless violence, sexual abuse and starvation.

In his first briefing to the UN Security Council on Friday as the newly designated Special Representative for Colombia, Miroslav Jenča reaffirmed the organization’s strong commitment to supporting the country’s nine-year-old peace process.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk warned on Friday that the war in Ukraine “has entered an even more dangerous and deadly stage for civilians, under relentless bombardment of their schools, hospitals, and shelters.”

UN aid teams on Friday highlighted the disturbing situation in Gaza’s makeshift hospitals, where premature babies cry for scant oxygen and medics attempt to save child survivors targeted by airstrikes in their tents and quadcopter victims reportedly shot while fetching bread.

BOKI, Nigeria, October 2 (IPS) - For the past 23 years, Gabriel Oshie has started his mornings at Drill Ranch in the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, Boki, Cross River state, southern Nigeria.

ROME, October 2 (IPS) - In the Global South, where people under the age of 18 comprise more than 50 percent of the population, youth activism is increasing rapidly. Youngsters are more agile and volatile than older people, less restrained by family, prestige and work. However, many suffer from marginalisation, lack of employment, and poverty. Furthermore, insecurity and limited life experience make young people an easy target for manipulating and unscrupulous politicians, criminal networks, and religious fanatics.

OSLO, Norway, October 2 (IPS) - In less than nine months, Israel has demolished more Palestinian homes and structures in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, over building permits than in the whole of last year.

Nearly 42,000 people in Gaza are living with life-changing injuries from the ongoing conflict – including more than 10,000 children – as the health system collapses under relentless strain, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Thursday.

Rising violence by gangs in Haiti’s capital is restricting humanitarian access and pushing families deeper into hunger, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Thursday.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Thursday warned that civilians in Sudan’s El Fasher face the imminent risk of large-scale atrocities, as fighting intensifies around the regional capital of North Darfur, besieged for more than 500 days by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia.