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UN Geneva Press Briefing - 08 August 2025
8 August 2025
Humanitarian, health and security updates from Sudan and Chad
Jocelyne Knight, Protection Officer for Darfur at the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), speaking from Port Sudan, stressed that the situation in Sudan was a massive protection crisis, and even more so in Darfur. The impacts of the protection crisis were manifesting differently, with cholera case numbers rising in certain regions. With such a large-scale, long-lasting displacement, people lacked the basics for dignified survival, and the risks of communicable diseases were high. People could not engage in food production as they used to before the conflict, and markets were not functioning as well. All these factors were compounding one another and making the situation for numerous people unbearable. Ms. Knight had spoken to displaced people and children, who had shared with her their fears and traumas of being repeatedly attacked and lacking adequate shelter and food. She emphasized the need to scale up the international response to the ongoing crisis to meet displaced people’s essential needs.
Patrice Ahouansou, Principal Situation Coordinator for Eastern Chad at the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), speaking from N’Djamena, spoke about a little displaced Sudanese girl in Chad whose parents had been killed. She asked Mr. Ahouansou to thank those who were helping and making their survival possible, but at the same time she was worried about the cholera outbreak and that those who had killed her parents could find her again. In order to curb the cholera spread, steps were being taken among the refugee communities in Chad, but with the overcrowded border settlements with inadequate water and sanitation access, cholera was still a serious threat. Without urgent action, including enhancing access to medical treatment, water and sanitation, many lives would be on the line. Mr. Ahouansou emphasized that providing healthcare, water and sanitation, along with shelter and food, remained priorities for UNHCR in Chad.
UNHCR’s full statement is available here.
Dr. Ilham Nour, Senior Emergency Officer at the World Health Organization (WHO), said that relentless violence had pushed Sudan’s health system to the edge, adding to a crisis marked by hunger, illness, and despair. Since the start of the conflict, WHO had verified 174 attacks on health, leading to 1,171 deaths and 362 injuries, and impacting health facilities. Dr. Nour also addressed the challenge of cholera, informing that the disease had swept across Sudan, with all states reporting outbreaks. Nearly 100,000 cases had been reported since July 2024. There were also outbreaks of measles, malaria, dengue, and polio. Exacerbating the disease burden was hunger, with nearly 25 million people acutely food insecure. About 770,000 children under five years were expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition in 2025.
Dr. Nour further said that Darfur and Kordofan had been cut off by intense fighting. In addition to hunger and disease, WHO estimated that three of every four health facilities were no longer functioning, leaving people with little access to essential health care even as needs mounted. On the other hand, some parts of the country, like Khartoum, had become accessible after months and WHO had resumed its operations there; a large cholera vaccination campaign had recently been conducted there with WHO support, and WHO was seeing initial signs of a slowing down of the cholera epidemic. Across the country, WHO was currently supporting 33 hospitals and 60 primary health care centres and planning to expand to 60 more such centres. WHO support included critical health supplies, training, and operational support for some of these facilities. WHO’s efforts and those of its partners were constrained by severely limited access, bureaucratic and logistic impediments and a lack of funding. In conclusion, Dr. Nour urged the world not to look away.
Sediq Rashid, Chief of UN Mine Action Programme (UNMAS), speaking from Port Sudan, said that explosive remnants of war and landmines were a serious implication of the ongoing conflict, as well as of all the previous wars in Sudan. Sudan had experienced a lot of conflict, which had left behind numerous, dangerous unexploded ordnance (UXO). This was mainly an issue in highly populated urban areas: roads, streets, residential neighborhoods, schools, and medical zones. The population was largely unaware of the dangers awaiting them. With new battles every day, there was more and more unexploded ordnance. Just the previous week, six minefields had been identified in Khartoum, three of which with anti-personnel landmines. Mr. Rashid provided an example of a child who had found a UXO and thrown it among other children playing nearby, severely injuring eight of them. The problem was significant and widely present across numerous cities. There were only ten mine-clearance teams operating right now, so there was much more need to rapidly increase these efforts. Mr. Rashid said that in Afghanistan at one point, there were as many as 800 active mine clearance teams.
Responding to questions from the media, Mr. Rashid, for UNMAS, explained that each demining team was composed of four operators, to keep them mobile and agile. Other than Khartoum and Al Jazirah state, many other areas were affected by UXO and required urgent assistance. Once the capacities increased, each team would have as many as ten operators. The cost of clearance was high, as most contamination was in highly condensed urban areas. Some USD 23 million was needed for these efforts in 2025, of which only a very small amount had been received. In just one month of operating in Khartoum, two UNMAS teams had found more than 1,000 UXO, informed Mr. Rashid. He called on various humanitarian partners to help with spreading awareness of the widespread risks of unexploded ordnance. A comprehensive assessment of the problem was needed to estimate potential costs of the cleanup operation. Clearance was a high-cost undertaking while education about risks and threats was relatively low-cost, he explained. On another question, Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), stated that the UN had repeatedly called on the warring parties to come to a negotiating table, as well as on all parties with influence to use that influence to bring the conflict to an end.
Reintegrating returnees in Afghanistan
Stephanie Loose, Programme Manager of UN Habitat in Afghanistan, said that Afghanistan was facing an unprecedented returnee crisis. Millions of people had been forcibly returned from neighboring countries, mainly Iran and Pakistan. While humanitarian support was being provided at border points, the real challenge was still ahead: re-integration of people who had lost their homes, their assets, and their hope. Many had no place to go as they had never lived in Afghanistan; nearly 60 percent of these returnees were under 18. What was needed urgently, stressed Ms. Loose, was a coordinated reintegration process in the areas where people would settle.
Ms. Loose explained that Afghanistan was struggling, already before the current crisis, with nearly 50 percent of the population in Afghanistan in need of humanitarian assistance. The human rights situation in Afghanistan was deteriorating, with women and girls in particular facing huge barriers. Afghanistan was also among the top ten countries impacted by climate change: droughts, floods, increased temperatures and heat impact people living in rural areas and reduce rural livelihoods but also threatened people living in urban areas. More than three million people had returned since September 2023. While the numbers changed daily, it was estimated that between 25 July and 1 August alone, more than 85,000 Afghans had been deported from Iran, along with more than 3,000 from Pakistan. Many had been forced to leave everything behind and arrive with literally nothing more than what they could carry. Ms. Loose elaborated on the specific plight of returnee girls, who, once back in Afghanistan, could not attend education beyond the age of 12 or leave house without a male guardian.
Ms. Loose stressed that reintegration was not optional. Without it, returnees remained vulnerable, trapped in cycles of dependency and exposed to serious risks. Rebuilding lives required more than emergency aid; people needed adequate housing and tenure rights, access to essential services such as clean water, sanitation, and livelihood opportunities, so they could support their families to live in dignity. Reintegration was crucial for future peace, stability and social cohesion. People needed to understand that the returnees were not simply a burden, but they brought with them a set of skills and could contribute to their local communities. UN-Habitat advocated for an integrated response based on spatial planning for population growth, shelter and housing solutions, and improved access to essential services. Ms. Loose urged the global community not to forget Afghanistan and ensure there was adequate funding so that people could live in a dignified, self-reliant way.
Replying to a question, Ms. Loose said that 2.2 million people in Afghanistan currently needed support for reintegration, and the numbers were still growing. It should be ensured that reintegration programmes received the support they needed; investments in longer-term solutions were also necessary, she stressed.
Gaza
Responding to a question, Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), said that at the invitation of the United States’ Mission to the UN in New York, UN entities and partners had attended a dialogue on the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. The chairman of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was in attendance. It was a private meeting. The UN welcome anyone raising their voice for aid to reach civilians in Gaza.
Any decision to expand Israel’s military operations in Gaza was deeply alarming, said Ms. Vellucci in a response to another question. UN was firmly against any escalation of this extremely ruinous conflict. She read excerpt of this morning’s comment by the UN Human Rights High Commissioner who had stated that this escalation did not need to happen. His full statement is available here.
Announcements
Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), informed that INC5 negotiations were continuing at the Palais des Nations, and journalists were welcome to access the Palais in the evenings and over the weekend. Two media officers of the UN Environment Programme, Keishamaza Rukikaire and Matthew Bannon, were attending the talks and could be reached for any information.
***
- UNHCR Jocelyn Elizabeth Knight, UNHCR Protection Officer for Darfur (From Port Sudan) & Dossou Patrice Ahouansou, UNHCR Principal Situation Coordinator for Eastern Chad, (From N’Djamena) - Cholera outbreak among refugees from Sudan’s Darfur, urgent funding needed
- WHO Christian Lindmeier (Zoom) with Dr Ilham NOUR, Senior EmergencyOfficer (Zoom from Geneva) - Health Challenges in Sudan
- UNMAS Mohammad Sediq Rashid, Chief Mine Action Programme (From Port Sudan) - Update on the explosive remnants of war situation in Sudan
- UN HABITAT Stephanie Loose, Country Programme Manager, UN-Habitat Afghanistan - Urgent need to scale up (re-)integration efforts for returnees to Afghanistan
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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