This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

Deadliest year on record for migrants with nearly 8,600 deaths in 2023

First, a grim update from the UN migration agency, IOM, which on Wednesday said that last year was the deadliest on record for migrants.

Nearly 8,600 people on the move died in 2023, a 20 per cent increase on 2022, according to the UN agency’s Missing Migrants Project online platform.

It details the global movement of people risking their lives to escape conflict, natural disasters including drought and flooding linked to climate change, and economic crisis – and IOM said that it clearly shows that there are far too few legal pathways for migrants.

Hundreds of thousands of people are continuing to embark on dangerous and illegal cross-border journeys every year.

Data from IOM indicated that drowning accounted for slightly more than half of last year’s deaths; nine per cent involved vehicle accidents and seven per cent of fatalities were victims of violence.

Allow more aid into Gaza now, pleads UN health agency chief 

More lifesaving humanitarian aid must be allowed into Gaza where one in six children is dangerously malnourished, UN health agency chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday.

Children made it through bombardment “but may not survive a famine,” the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros wrote on X, formerly Twitter. 

Accompanying the WHO chief’s warning, video testimony from Kamal Adwan Hospital paediatric unit in Gaza’s far north highlighted the massive scale of needs.

UN humanitarians and partners have been unable to deliver assistance in any great quantity to Gaza generally – let alone the north of the enclave - citing aid obstacles by the Israeli authorities, in addition to the dangers posed by constant bombardment, fighting and insecurity.

In recent days staff at Kamal Adwan hospital in Gaza have been unable to save at least 10 children from dying from severe acute malnutrition and dehydration, fuelling widespread fears of impending famine, after nearly five months of war  between Israel and Hamas fighters.

“When a child is supposed to eat three meals and day and ends up eating one meal that’s not enough,” said Dr Imad Dardonah. He said that 50 to 60 per cent of cases cannot be helped “because we have nothing to give them”, apart from a solution of saline or sugar.

11 months into Sudan war, ‘world's worst hunger crisis’ looms

Nearly 11 months since Sudan’s rival generals declared war, UN humanitarians warned on Wednesday that the conflict risks triggering “the world's worst hunger crisis”.

The northeast African country is already in the grip of the world's largest displacement crisis, according to the UN World Food Programme, WFP. 

It said that fewer than one in 20 people in Sudan can afford a full meal. 

“Twenty years ago, Darfur was the world’s largest hunger crisis and the world rallied to respond,” said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain. But she said that today, the people of Sudan have been forgotten. “Millions of lives and the peace and stability of an entire region are at stake,” she said. 

Ms. McCain was speaking from South Sudan, where she met families fleeing violence and desperate food insecurity across Sudan.

Fighting between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces is believed to have left thousands dead and eight million displaced.

A staggering 14 million children are now in desperate need of lifesaving assistance across Sudan, the UN Children’s Fund also warned in a recent alert. 

Despite their best efforts, UN humanitarians have struggled to meet the scale of needs. WFP announced earlier this year that it faces a funding gap of $74 million for the Sudan crisis response, which aims to reach 4.2 million people.

Daniel Johnson, UN News.