UN GENEVA PRESS BRIEFING

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives from the UN Women, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Children's Fund and the World Health Organization.

Situation of Women and Girls in Sudan

Anna Mutavati, Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, UN Women, said that for more than two years in a row, the frontlines in Sudan had cut through the homes, bodies, livelihoods and futures of women and girls, who had endured the sharpest edge of Sudan’s horrific conflict.

UN Women’s latest gender alert, titled “Gender Dimensions of Food Insecurity in Sudan” indicated that nearly 11 million women and girls were now acutely food insecure. As fighting engulfed El Fasher and severe food insecurity spread across Darfur, women and girls experienced extreme hunger, displacement, death, sexual and gender-based violence. The gender alert showed that simply being a woman in Sudan was a strong predictor of hunger.

Famine had been officially declared by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) in El Fasher and Kadugli as of November 2025. Some 73 per cent of women had extremely poor diets and heightened malnutrition risks. 

In all crises, women and girls ate the least and ate last. Most women and girls in Sudan were not eating at all. Women often skipped meals so their children could eat, and adolescent girls often received the smallest shares. In besieged and remote areas, like Darfur or Kordofan, women were often scavenging for survival, foraging for wild leaves and berries to boil into soup. While doing this, they faced heightened risks of abduction and sexual and gender-based violence. There were reports of severe acute malnutrition in infants, often linked to mothers’ starvation and reduced breastfeeding.

Health services had also collapsed - over 80 per cent of medical facilities had shut down since the war began. Local women-led clinics in Darfur were reporting acute maternal risks. Women in Darfur had endured starvation, displacement, rape and bombardment. Pregnant women had given birth in the streets, as the last remaining maternity hospital in Darfur had been looted and destroyed.

The crisis was worsening dramatically as fighting expanded around El Fasher. Thousands of women and girls have fled to Tawila, Korma, and Malit, where the humanitarian presence and services were scarce. They reported that every step they took on their horrific journey, including while fetching water, collecting firewood, and waiting in food lines, carried the risk of sexual violence. There was mounting evidence that rape was being deliberately and systematically used as a weapon of war. Women’s bodies had become crime scenes. There were no safe spaces left, nowhere for women and girls to gather, seek protection, or access even the most basic psychosocial care.

Basic dignity had collapsed. In North Darfur today, a single packet of sanitary towels cost roughly 27 USD. Families receiving humanitarian cash assistance were given slightly below 150 USD for a household of six members. One necessity for women and girls now took up a quarter of an entire family’s aid. When families were forced to choose been food, medicine and dignity, the needs of women and girls fell to the bottom of the list. When the needs of women and girls were not prioritised, their suffering deepened, and their dignity was lost.

Women fleeing El Fasher described witnessing killings, rape, and the disappearance of their children. Many were in severe psychological distress, yet there was almost no access to mental health services or psychosocial support anywhere across the affected areas. Women-led organizations warned that this absence of safe spaces in Tawila, Korma, and Malit was among the most glaring gaps in the humanitarian response.

These women-led organisations remained the bedrock, sustaining the humanitarian response. They managed communal kitchens in North Darfur and identified malnourished children and taught mothers how to prepare nutrient-rich meals in Kordofan. However, only three per cent of humanitarian funding went to such organisations, which relied mostly on volunteers and one-off small grants.

Sexual violence, forced displacement, and the collapse of essential services had transformed Sudan to the world’s most extreme crisis for women and girls. The war in Sudan was a war on women; one that required immediate action.

UN Women called for an immediate halt to all violence in Sudan. The proposed humanitarian ceasefire offered hope, but it needed to be fully implemented. All parties needed to immediately ensure safe corridors for women, girls, and all civilians. All routes for humanitarian relief needed to be opened and communications restored to enable lifesaving coordination and the documentation of violations. Humanitarian actors needed to prioritise women and female-led households in food assistance, restoration and rebuilding of their livelihoods.

UN Women called for the protection of all humanitarian personnel; particularly local women aid workers. All parties needed to protect women and girls and uphold their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law. There needed to be increased direct support to the women led food kitchens, the lifeline to thousands of families across Sudan. Women’s health needed to be at the centre of the humanitarian response. All donors needed to recognise, resource and partner with women-led organizations, provide them with direct and flexible funding, and ensure women’s full and equal participation in decisions on access, protection, and recovery. 

UN Women was working closely with local partners, including women-led organisations, to deliver life-saving support, promote women’s leadership and sustain essential services under extremely challenging conditions. It carried the weight of every woman silenced by the war in Sudan. Women and girls in Sudan were not statistics, they were the measure of our shared humanity. Every day that the world delayed action, another woman gave birth under fire, buried her child in hunger, or disappeared without justice.

In response to questions, Ms. Mutavati said mental health was a much-needed service that was not available in regions of Sudan where service providers had limited access on the ground. There was a severe shortage of sanitary towels, which led to manipulation of their prices. Humanitarian partners were not able to access communities to distribute towels, and vendors were raising the price of the limited supplies remaining.

Women-led organisations and partners were working on the ground under very difficult conditions, providing support to women and girls and collecting evidence of human rights violations. They were offering temporary safe spaces that provided basic social and medical support for women and providing limited cash support that helped women and girls to procure services.

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, said the United Nations had called many times, including yesterday, for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Sudan, for the protection of civilians and humanitarian workers, for an end to attacks on hospitals and civilian infrastructure, and for safe, unhindered humanitarian access to reach those in need.

UNHCR’s Global Winter Fundraising Campaign

Dominique Hyde, Director of External Relations, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said there had never been a time in which the work of journalists had been more important to highlight the situation of women and girls around the world, that had never been more atrocious. The world was a very difficult place for women and girls.

As winter set in in the northern hemisphere, millions of refugees and internally displaced persons were being impacted. Families were being forced to endure rising, freezing temperatures without essentials that UNHCR had been able to provide in previous years. 

This year, UNHCR was facing real financial constraints and needed public support to help families in dire situations. Humanitarian budgets were stretched to breaking point and assistance to UNHCR was dwindling, making its overall financial situation precarious. The agency projected ending 2025 with 3.9 billion USD in available funds, a 25 per cent decline from 2024, putting funds at around the same level as in 2015, when there were far fewer people needing support. Without an injection of new funds, UNHCR would not be able the millions of refugees in need of support.

UNHCR was launching its winter campaign, one of its most important fundraising campaigns of the year. It aimed to help families in need that were forced to flee or were returning home. It supported winter-related programmes in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria and neighbouring countries, which included cash grants for purchasing fuel and firewood and other winter distribution items, such as warm blankets, warm clothing, stoves and support for shelter.

UNHCR hoped to raise more than it did last year, when it raised 34 million USD in its winter campaign. It was aware that donating was challenging, with rising needs and funding cuts everywhere. The agency was calling for flexible, non-earmarked funding, so that it could respond where the needs were greatest. On an annual basis, UNHCR received funding from 3.2 million people around the world, mostly coming from Spain, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Sweden and Germany. Contrary government funding, donations from private individuals had been rising, and UNHCR hoped that foundations and companies would support it.

More than one million refugees and two million displaced people had returned to Syria in the last year since the fall of the Assad regime. In the past week, 44,000 refugees and 25,000 internally displaced persons had returned. In many cases, they returned to complete destruction. Many houses and even entire villages had been destroyed. People were doing their best to rebuild their lives. Ms. Hyde said she had spoken to a Syrian man who said the Syrian people had lost so much - homes, friends and families – but now was the time to rebuild.

Ms. Hyde said that she had also met a woman who had fled her home in the Homs district of Syria 14 years ago to Lebanon, where she lived in a refugee camp with three of her four children, who were all under the age of 14. She had now returned to her home, but there was nothing left – no doors, no windows, nothing to cook with and nothing to keep her family warm. UNHCR was helping her and families like hers to obtain doors, windows, and latrines to make houses liveable, but it did not have the funds required to support all families. The agency was also helping this woman and other women to start entrepreneurship activities that they could do from home.

In Ukraine, where temperatures could drop to minus 20 degrees Celsius, there was a confluence of challenges, with the onset of winter and escalating attacks on energy infrastructure, causing power outages and limiting access to heating and water. This past weekend, aerial attacks hit multiple regions and displacement continued from frontline areas like Donetsk, with many of those fleeing being elderly people and persons with disabilities. UNHCR aimed to reach close to 390,000 people in Ukraine with winter aid, but its response in the country was desperately low on funding.

In Afghanistan, sub-zero temperatures were already leaving families exposed. Nine in 10 Afghans lived in poverty and more than 2.2 million people had returned home from Pakistan and Iran this year. Many of these people had never lived in Afghanistan and were arriving empty-handed with few prospects. The country had also been hit by two devastating earthquakes in recent months, which had compounded the vulnerability of the returnees.  UNHCR was providing traditional heating devices, thermal kits and shelter repair kits to help families survive.

Despite funding cuts, colleagues on the ground were working relentlessly. They had gone through conflicts and wars but were not despairing – they were dedicated and determined to protect those in need. However, they were running out of time and resources. UNHCR needed solidarity right now more than ever from the media, companies and individuals to help displaced and refugee families in the cold months. All support made a difference, and one act of kindness could change somebody’s life. This was a time that the international community needed to come together.

Read the press release here.

In response to questions, Ms. Hyde said UNHCR hoped to raise more than 34 million USD in its winter campaign this year. Every dollar raised would have an impact, but it was needed right now. This year, the United States had donated 800 million United States dollars to the UNHCR and it remained the organisation’s largest donor, though there had been a drastic funding cut from 2024. There had also been large cuts in donations from Germany, France and the United Kingdom, among others. However, there had been large growth in private sector donations. Further advocation was needed to ensure that official development assistance continued to be provided to UNHCR so that it could continue to support refugees and internally displaced persons in need.

Also answering questions, Ms Hyde said that temperatures in Syria would drop in the coming weeks. UNHCR did assessment mapping and targeted the most vulnerable families with its assistance. UNHCR’s staffing had been cut, but the entire United Nations was teaming up to support people in Syria. There had been shifts in investments in health and education, and legislation was moving forward.

Matthew Saltmarsh for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said attacks on energy infrastructure were having a devastating impact on the civilian population in Ukraine. Some regions had been left without power for several weeks. UNHCR was constantly assessing the situation and supporting those in need, including the newly displaced and displaced people it had been helping for the past few years.

Response to the Second Typhoon in a Week to Reach the Philippines

Dipayan Bhattacharyya, Deputy Country Director for the Philippines, World Food Programme (WFP), said Super Typhoon Fung-Wong had made landfall on Luzon Island, the largest and most populous part of the country, over the weekend. This was the 21^st storm of the season; Super Typhoon Kalmaegi had hit the central part of the country just a week before. Combined, the two typhoons had impacted more than 8.3 million people and had led to the displacement of around 1.4 million people, leaving communities reeling from back-to-back disasters. The number of affected people would likely be revised upwards as more data came in.

The most important milestone for WFP in the response to these disasters was that anticipatory cash transfers had been activated for the first time in response to a Category Five typhoon. This had been achieved against the backdrop of the Government’s approval a few months ago of the “Declaration of Imminent Disasters” bill, which provided the legal framework for the Philippines Government to provide cash transfers ahead of a disaster. WFP and other agencies had supported the Government to develop this law, which had been passed in a rapid manner in view of its urgency.

Thanks to this law, WFP had been able to provide anticipatory cash transfers that reached 210,000 people, equivalent to around 42,000 vulnerable families in the five most impacted provinces. Each family had directly received a cash transfer equivalent to 68 USD. WFP hoped to provide further cash assistance to these families and other affected families in the near future. WFP had also prepositioned 271,000 family food packs containing rice and other food items, and, in partnership with the Government, had already delivered 187,000 of these packs, which could support almost one million people.

WFP had also been providing generators, warehouse equipment, and mobile storage units to the Government, and had been augmenting transportation capacity to facilitate the delivery of prepositioned family food packs and non-food items. It had further deployed around 11 mobile emergency communication vehicles in different locations. 

Since Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, WFP and partners had been providing technical assistance to the strengthen the Government’s disaster management system and capacities. This sustained collaboration had improved its ability to plan, preposition and respond to different disasters in the most effective and efficient manner.

In response to questions, Mr. Bhattacharyya said the intensity of typhoons in the Philippines were increasing each year. When the same community was hit by several typhoons, their ability to recover reduced each time. WFP was collaborating with the Government and the army in the response, and had deployed staff members in affected areas to identify gaps that humanitarian actors could fill.

Vaccination Campaign and Humanitarian Activities in Gaza as Winter Approaches

Ricardo Pires for United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners had launched a catch-up immunisation, nutrition and health campaign in Gaza to reach over 40,000 children under three who had missed routine vaccinations due to two years of war and conflict. On the first day of the campaign, it had managed to reach 2,400 children with multiple vaccines.

The campaign would be conducted in three rounds, with the first round taking place from 9 to 18 November, and the second and third rounds planned for December and January. UNICEF had procured one million vaccines and transported them into Gaza to protect children against deadly but preventable diseases such as polio, measles and pneumonia. The campaign would operate through 149 health facilities and 10 mobile units, supported by over 450 health workers trained by UNICEF.

Before the war, Gaza had 98 per cent vaccination coverage and 55 vaccination sites; this was now below 70 per cent, with 31 vaccination sites destroyed or damaged. This emergency intervention was the first step towards restoring pre-conflict vaccination levels and rebuilding Gaza’s damaged health system, which would require donor support. There had thus far been no security incidents affecting the campaign, the success of which depended on a sustained ceasefire and the protection of humanitarian access. The ceasefire was fragile; it was important that all parties respected it.

A major issue faced by UNICEF was delivering syringes and solar-powered refrigerators into Gaza. It had bought 1.6 million syringes – the vast majority were still outside of Gaza. These and other critical supplies had been blocked or had been awaiting security clearance since August 2025. It was very hard to get clearances for these supplies, but they were urgently needed for the vaccination campaign.

UNICEF’s winterization campaign was also underway across multiple location. Over the past few days, over 38,00 winter clothing kits and pairs of shoes had been distributed targeting children under age 10. Over 160,000 blankets have been dispatched, including 62,000 for hospitals and 20,000 for primary health care centres supporting children under two. 385,000 clothing kits and winter jackets were in the pipeline, and UNICEF and partners had distributed 200,000 blankets, with another one million blankets to be distributed as soon as possible.

As the temperature dropped, the issues affecting children worsened. Since the ceasefire, UNICEF had collected an average of 3,992 pallets per week, a 260 per cent increase compared to the weeks preceding the ceasefire. This showed that when the guns went silent, humanitarian workers were able to turn the situation around quickly. But there was much work to do. The problems caused by two years of war, violence and depravation could not be solved in a couple of months.

UNICEF had also collected 5,500 trucks inside Gaza between 12 October and 10 November. However, critical items continued to be denied by the Israeli authorities, including spare parts for water trucks and UNICEF vehicles, material to treat and purify water, high power generators, as well as UNICEF's education and recreational kits for children, which had not been allowed to enter the Gaza Strip for many months. UNICEF called for these supplies to be urgently permitted entry. As an example, at least 938,000 bottles of infant formula had been stuck at the border since August. It was vital that this reached infants, who had been suffering from hunger for so long. Essential items such as such as maternity kits were also being withheld, and field staff were having a tough time explaining these restrictions to affected communities post ceasefire.

There had been a considerable increase in aid getting through, but some very essential items were being held back. UNICEF hoped that it would see further increases in the flow of aid into Gaza, which would improve the lives and wellbeing of the one million children living in Gaza in very dire conditions.

In response to questions, Mr. Pires said that with winter coming, UNICEF planned to reach every single child in Gaza with warm clothes and blankets. There were restrictions in delivering the other supplies needed at the amount required. The situation on the ground was still uncertain and fear remained. Since 11 October, at least 58 children had been killed in conflict-related incidents. People remained scared about whether health supplies, water and sanitation supplies would reach them. Political commitment was needed to ensure that the ceasefire held.

Announcements

Christian Lindmeier for the World Health Organization (WHO) said that today, 11 November, WHO would hold a press briefing at 2:30 p.m. to present the Global Tuberculosis 2025 report, which was embargoed until tomorrow. Tomorrow at 3 p.m., the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus would hold a press briefing. On Thursday, the opening press conference would be held for the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, said that on Wednesday, 12 November at 10:30 a.m., the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) would hold a press briefing at the Palais des Nations on the 20th World Wildlife Conference and the 20th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (CITES CoP20), at which Ivonne Higuero, CITES Secretary-General, would speak.

The Committee against Torture was beginning this morning the review of the report of Israel, which it would conclude tomorrow afternoon. In this session, it would also review Argentina, Bahrain and Albania.

The Human Rights Council would hold a special session on the human rights situation in and around El Fasher, in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Sudan, next Friday, 14 November 2025.

Next week, on 20 November, the Young Activists Summit would be held at the Palais des Nations. The event, which had the theme “From hashtag to action”, would celebrate five incredible young activists from India, Japan, Lebanon, Côte d’Ivoire and Brazil who had used digital tools and platforms to make a real change in their communities. The activists would be available for interviews. The Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Tatiana Valovaya, would close the ceremony, which would be opened by Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications; Cyril Dion, eco-activist from France and Nathalie Fontanet, Geneva State Councillor, would also speak at the event.

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