Today's top news: Sudan, Ukraine

Sudan

People in Sudan are running out of food, fuel, and other vital supplies. Many urgently need medical care.

We desperately need a humanitarian pause so that wounded and sick civilians can reach hospitals. People in the capital Khartoum have been unable to safely leave their homes to buy food and other essentials for days now.

The humanitarian response in Sudan remains severely hampered. Attacks against aid workers and looting of humanitarian facilities must stop. Humanitarian actors must be able to safely carry out their work. Aid agencies must be able to safely move staff and replenish critical supplies.

Meanwhile, we are worried that Sudan’s health care system could completely collapse. Hospitals need additional staff, supplies, and blood.

The World Health Organization says 16 hospitals across Sudan have been forced to shut down due to attacks. Nine of them are in the capital Khartoum. A further 16 hospitals, including in Darfur States, could close soon due to staff fatigue and lack of supplies.

We condemn all attacks on health personnel, facilities and ambulances – which are putting more lives at risk. They are flagrant violations of international law, and they must stop now.

Ukraine

The UN and partners have reached nearly 2 million people with multi-purpose cash assistance in the first quarter of 2023.

This is a continuation of crucial assistance that we and our partners provide in most regions of Ukraine, but mainly to those people who have been displaced and have lost their jobs and livelihoods because of the war. Last year, we reached nearly 6 million people with cash.

This year, more than $200 million has been transferred to the people of Ukraine to help them to meet their basic needs. This was made possible through the coordinated efforts of more than 20 partners, including United Nations agencies, national non-governmental organizations and international non-governmental organizations.

This work will continue, and the target is to provide multipurpose cash assistance to 4.4 million people in Ukraine, transferring almost $1 billion.

And overall, we aim to deliver humanitarian assistance to over 11 million people of the nearly 18 million in need of aid in Ukraine.

To this end, the UN and our partners requested US$3.9 billion for the response. So far, we received a total of $900 million so we count on the international community to sustain its support to the humanitarian response in Ukraine, as the war continues to drive a grave humanitarian crisis in the country, particularly in the east and the south.