This is the News in Brief from the United Nations. 

South Sudan: UN rights chief appeals for civilian attacks to stop 

UN human rights chief Volker Türk urged the South Sudanese authorities on Wednesday to immediately investigate attacks against civilians in Upper Nile state and bring those responsible to justice. 

Reports indicate the “random shooting” of non-combatants and the killing of at least 166 civilians with 237 injured in the last four months. 

The source of the violence: intensifying clashes between rival community-based militias which have forced more than 20,000 people from their homes since August, according to the UN human rights office, OHCHR. 

In a statement, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Türk condemned the killings.  

The “senseless violence” must stop, along with gender-based violence, abductions, destruction of property and looting, Mr. Türk insisted, before appealing to community leaders and elders to use their influence over those fighting to end the bloodshed. 

Clean water investment boost needed to prevent health crisis: WHO 

Many of us take clean water for granted, but millions of lives are lost every year because of insufficient investment in sanitation, the UN health agency has said. 

In an appeal to accelerate spending on access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that although 45 per cent of countries are on track to achieve drinking-water coverage targets by 2030, only 25 per cent are likely to achieve sanitation targets. 

WHO, which joined forces with UN Water to assess access to water and sanitation in more than 120 countries, found that over 75 per cent of countries reported insufficient funding to implement their water and sanitation strategies. 

The UN agency report also found that that most countries’ policies and plans “do not address risks of climate change” to water and sanitation services, nor how to make technologies and management systems more climate resilient.  

Just over two-thirds of countries have measures in place to reach populations disproportionately affected by climate change, WHO said. But only about one- third monitor progress or allocate funding to these vulnerable populations. 

UN migration agency accelerates winter support in Ukraine  

To Ukraine, where UN humanitarians and partners are working to help increasingly at-risk communities who are now facing temperatures of minus 10 degrees Celsius. 

Nearly 18 million people - 40 per cent of Ukraine’s population - need urgent humanitarian aid, said IOM, the UN migration agency, nearly 10 months since the Russian invasion. 

Fresh attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure were reported on Wednesday, following previous strikes which have caused massive disruption to water, electricity, and heating supplies across the country. 

Providing adequate assistance is now crucially important, IOM maintained, citing new data indicating that only seven per cent of people in Ukraine are thinking about leaving their current location. 

“Even in the event of prolonged cuts to all key utilities without a timeline for repair, two out of three say that they would not leave their homes,” the UN agency reported.  

More than four in 10 people have now exhausted their personal savings and more than six in 10 now ration their gas, electricity and solid fuel, according to IOM. 

It noted that more than five million people who had been displaced within Ukraine or beyond, have now returned home; including to Kharkiv, where more than 1.1 million people now live, up from 700,000 in March. 

Daniel Johnson, UN News.