Rape is a “massive” and underreported problem across Sudan, but what women and girls really want, and need are basic services such as toilets and lighting to offer some protection from further sexual attacks, said the UN reproductive health agency (UNFPA)’s UNFPA's Country Representative in Sudan, Fabrizia Falcione.

Speaking from Port Sudan on Tuesday, she .said that most of the pregnant women she had met in displacement camps in North Darfur reported that their husbands had been killed or had disappeared: 

“And these women are now the breadwinners for their families but they have nothing left nor do they have an income…I also met a 17-year-old girl holding her 40-day old baby that was born out of rape. This is an extraordinary act of strength of any woman let alone an adolescent girl. She had arrived at the camp a few days before and she had never before received antenatal care before giving birth.”

Sudan war: raped women and girls mustn't be forgotten, says UN veteran aid worker

Despite widespread suffering driven by escalating conflict, displacement and disasters, Myanmar’s humanitarian emergency has become all but “invisible” to the world, the top UN official in the country has warned.

Gwyn Lewis, the UN’s interim Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Myanmar, issued the alert during a visit to UN Headquarters, where she has been urging Member States and diplomats to refocus attention on the crisis.

She noted that 3.6 million people have been displaced, nearly 12 million face severe food insecurity, and one million of them are already living in emergency conditions.

Speaking to UN News’ Vibhu Mishra, she called on the international community to increase support and funding to alleviate Myanmar’s humanitarian crisis.

Audio credit: Vibhu Mishra, UN News

Myanmar’s deepening humanitarian crisis is ‘invisible’, UN official warns

Latest available figures published on Tuesday show more than 272 million children around the world were out of school through 2023, underscoring a deepening global education crisis.
 
That’s according to UN education and cultural organization, UNESCO, which says that despite lack of access, significant progress has been made in advancing gender parity and integrating emerging technologies in classrooms worldwide, including artificial intelligence.
 
In an interview with UN News’s Cristina Silveiro, UNESCO policy and lifelong learning director, Borhene Chakroun, outlined the key findings from the agency’s new global report, on the eve of Human Rights Day. 

Audio Credit: Cristina Silveiro, UN News 

Over 272 million children worldwide out of school

• Gaza: continuing airstrikes, shelling and gunfire leave more dead and injured: UN human rights chief 
• UNICEF warns of deepening global crisis for children
• On Human Rights Day 2025, credit for journalists risking everything to expose abuses

Audio credit: Daniel Johnson, UN News

UN News Today 10 December 2025 - Gaza update, global crisis for children, human rights day

Catch up on information you might have missed during the week.

This week's programme features:
1.  Professor Dr. Errol Bolden speaks about the importance of reading and identity to young minds.
2. The Barbados Landship recognised for its contribution to intangible heritage.
3.  Take advantage of the free health services being offered by the Ministry of Health's Mobile Clinic.
4.   A reminder for persons living with HIV to take their medication as prescribed.
5. The Ministry of Energy's online portal for licensing Energy Storage Systems is open.

This Week’s In Case You Missed It Opportunities - December 11– 17:
- Teaching vacancy (download)
To download the details for this opportunity, go to https://gisbarbados.gov.bb/download/in-case-you-missed-it-december-11-17-2025/

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT  DECEMBER 11 - 17 (2025)

• Gaza: Aid teams push to step up support as driving rain and cold take hold - UNICEF 
• Fear and uncertainty in DR Congo amid heavy fighting – OCHA, WFP 
• Venezuela’s national guard linked to serious abuses, say independent investigators 

Audio credit: Daniel Johnson, UN News

UN News Today 11 December 2025 - Gaza update, DR Congo, Venezuela

Humanitarian conditions in Gaza are worsening as storms, cold temperatures, and overcrowded makeshift shelters leave displaced families — especially children — without adequate warmth, sanitation, or protection, while aid remains far below what’s needed. 

Speaking from the Strip's coastal area of Al Mawasi, UNICEF's Jonathan Cricx warns of rising waterborne diseases amid severe shortages.

Audio credit: UN News

CLIP - Storms and cold deepen Gaza’s humanitarian crisis - UNICEF's Jonathan Cricx

Israeli construction of a new so-called "Settler Road" and barrier in the Jordan Valley is displacing Palestinians, fragmenting the occupied West Bank, and threatening livelihoods, while UN officials warn that attempts to undermine Palestinian refugee status violate international law. Here's Ajith Sunghay, head of OHCHR in the Occupied Palestinian Territory speaking to UN News on Thursday, 

Audio credit: UN News

CLIP - Ajith Sunghay, head of OHCHR in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, on Jordan Valley barrier

An escalation in violence in South Kivu province has uprooted more than 200,000 people since 2 December amid attacks since by the Alliance Fleuve Congo/Mouvement du 23 mars (AFC/M23).
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) told UN News on Thursday that this new crisis has forced the agency to suspend its activities across South Kivu.
Here's WFP's Myrline Sanogo Mathieu, Head of communications and Media/Spokesperson for DRC with more details on the humanitarian impact of the emergency.

DR Congo crisis in South Kivu: WFP's Myrline Sanogo Mathieu

Living heritage gives people a sense of meaning and belonging, connecting individuals and communities across generations.  

On Thursday, the UN culture agency, UNESCO’s committee which safeguards living cultural traditions worldwide, added 67 new living heritage elements to UNESCO’s extensive lists. 

UN News’s Anshu Sharma in the Indian capital, New Delhi, spoke to Tim Curtis, Director of the UNESCO office there and the agency’s Representative to India, Bhutan, Maldives, and Sri Lanka, about the significance of recognising and safeguarding intangible cultural heritage. 

Audio credit: Anshu Sharma, UN News

‘We are human beings because we are cultural beings’: UNESCO director

The Barbados Government Information Service has been established since 1958 as the Barbados Government's public relations and information arm.   This dynamic channel profiles Barbadian people, places and programmes which make up this Caribbean island surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.  We hope you enjoy and feel free to comment.  We want to hear from you.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT DECEMBER 11 - 17 (2025)

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