Nearly two years after the beginning of the Sudanese civil war, displaced populations returning to urban areas are facing the remnants of heavy fighting: unexploded ordnance.

The UN demining body (UNMAS) is warning of the risks faced by displaced people returning to areas contaminated by mines and other ordnance, which can explode with the lightest touch.

Active in Sudan since 2002, UNMAS has been severely impacted by both the war and a lack of funding.

Sidiq Rashid, Head of UNMAS in Sudan told UN News’s Abdelmonem Makki that the country currently faces the largest displacement crisis in the world, and everyone, from the warring parties to aid workers and the international community, needs to work together to integrate mine action into humanitarian, early recovery, and reconstruction work. 

Abdelmonem started by asking Mr. Rashid to describe the effect that unexploded munitions are having on the civilian population. 

The head of the UN trade agency (UNCTAD), Rebeca Grynspan, has expressed her concerns about the uncertainty that has swept the global economy, following the US decision to impose a host of tariffs on countries around the world.

UNCTAD is responsible for helping developing countries to take advantage of the opportunities presented by international trade, and to grow their economies.

Speaking to Conor Lennon from UN News, Ms. Grynspan said that the agency has called for developing countries to be spared “the pain” of tariffs, which have led to massive disruption, and fears of a worldwide recession.

After nearly two years of intense fighting in Sudan – which has displaced nine million people and left around 50,000 missing, say human rights organizations – a negotiated peace deal recognized by the international community is the only way forward.

That’s according to Radhouane Noucier, designated Sudan expert for the UN human rights office, OHCHR. He told UN News’s Abdelmonem Makki that enforced disappearances are just one of the many violations being carried out against the Sudanese people.

Half a century ago, the United States and the Soviet Union united on a text to ban biological weapons and it has remained a foundation of international law ever since.

The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)– which came into force on 26 March 1975 - prohibits an entire category of arms including viruses and toxins. All but nine UN Member States are party to the treaty.

Critics point out that the convention has no enforcement mechanism – that was something that Russia and the United States couldn’t agree on.

But this is perhaps understandable, as many active agents that could be used in biological warfare exist in nature, says Daniel Feakes, head of the Biological Weapons Convention unit at the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs.

Here he is now, speaking to UN News’s Juliette Maigné in Geneva.

One week after a devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar, hospitals remain overwhelmed, medical supplies are running low and emergency teams are struggling to meet growing healthcare needs.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that the crisis has pushed an already fragile health system to breaking point, with over 5,000 injured Burmese requiring urgent trauma care amid the looming threat of disease outbreaks like cholera.

The most urgent needs include trauma and surgical care, essential medicines for chronic illnesses and disease outbreak prevention, as Elena Vuolo, WHO Deputy Representative in the country, explained to UN News’ Vibhu Mishra.

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Civilians continue to bear the brunt of violent clashes between rival forces in Sudan, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said on Thursday, after “credible” videos surfaced of killings in cold blood, linked to the recapture of Khartoum by the Sudanese Armed Forces.

“There is likely an ethnic element” to the killings too, said Seif Magango, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

He told UN News’ Daniel Johnson that sexual violence remains widespread in the war-torn country, before calling for UN Member States to intervene to stop almost two years of heavy fighting that has uprooted nine million people across Sudan and left an estimated 24.6 million facing acute hunger.

Specific measures that could bring the rival forces to the negotiating table include an extended arms embargo for Sudan that encompasses the whole country and not just Darfur, and a wider mandate for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to cover all of Sudan, he said.

Following last Friday’s massive earthquake in Myanmar, UN humanitarians are on the ground to support survivors and affected communities.

The World Food Programme (WFP) started its first distributions in the capital, Nay Pyi Taw, within 48 hours of the quake. It is also on the ground at the epicentre in Sagiang – and in Myanmar’s second city of Mandalay - assisting thousands of families in desperate need.

But the UN needs much more funding from the international community to address the enormous needs, as WFP’s Country Director Michael Dunford tells UN News’s Vibhu Mishra.

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Poet and activist Salome Agbaroji was awarded the prestigious role of National Youth Poet Laureate of the United States in 2023.

A fighter for social justice, her identity is centred on being “an artist at its core”, aiming to inspire others through words.

Earlier this week, Ms. Agbaroji sat down with UN News’s Pooja Yadav at UN Headquarters in New York after taking part in commemorations for the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Art has the power to transform she told us, including the ability to “heal what’s been broken”. 

As violence escalates in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the Rwanda-backed rebel group M23 looking to gain more territory, UN peacekeepers are working flat out to protect civilians amid a worsening humanitarian crisis.

Speaking to UN News’ Jérôme Bernard in New York, the chief of the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), Bintou Keita, outlined the mission’s role in any ceasefire, protecting the displaced and confronting sexual violence and child recruitment.

She also shared why – despite mounting pressure – now would be the wrong time to withdraw from the most volatile regions.

Around a third of the 12 million Sudanese displaced following nearly three years of brutal conflict are women and girls of reproductive age, according to data from the UN sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA).

Aside from the brutality of rape, coupled with other physical and mental traumas, some of the 300,000 pregnant women who are running for safety “end up giving birth on the roadside”.

That’s according to UNFPA’s Representative ad interim in the country, Argentina Matavel Piccin, who told UN News’s Khaled Mohamed that more support is urgently needed to curb the impact of gender-based violence.