• Amid ongoing strife in Gaza and Ukraine, UN chief reiterates peace call 
• Sudan war could see 222,000 children die from malnutrition, says aid coordinator
• Mobile phones called to order for part in 62 million tonnes of e-waste

This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

Amid ongoing strife in Gaza and Ukraine, UN chief reiterates peace call

UN Secretary-General António Guterres doubled down on his call for a ceasefire in Gaza and peace in Ukraine on Thursday, taking aim at the “chaotic” global outlook - and any country or armed group that thinks “it can do whatever it wants”.

“When we live in a chaotic world it’s very important to stick to principles and the principles are clear”, he said – “the UN Charter, international law, the territorial integrity of countries and international humanitarian law.”

Speaking at the opening of the European Council in Brussels, Mr. Guterres insisted that it was “essential” to have peace in Ukraine and a ceasefire in Gaza.”

Meanwhile, the head of the UN health agency, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that “many” youngsters in northern Gaza have been seriously injured and are reportedly “starving”, after nearly six months of war. 

In a social media post accompanying Tedros’s alert, a video clip from Al-Shifa Hospital showed a young amputee, Rafiq, who had been reportedly rescued from under the rubble of his home in Gaza City.

The video - filmed on 17 March – showed the boy’s doctor who said that many parents were reporting that their children had died from malnutrition.

WHO was last able to reach the medical facility on 11 March to deliver fuel and medicines, the UN agency said. According to media reports, the Israeli military raid of Al-Shifa that began on Monday is still continuing.

Sudan war could see 222,000 children die from malnutrition, says aid coordinator 

To Sudan, where UN aid coordination office OCHA has warned that soaring malnutrition and food insecurity could kill some 222,000 children in the coming weeks and months.

Conflict erupted in the country more than 11 months ago between rival militaries.

Edem Wosornu, Director of OCHA’s Operations and Advocacy Division, reported to the Security Council on Wednesday that by the time the lean season in Sudan arrives in May, parts of the Darfur region could be particularly badly affected. 

The alert echoes warnings earlier this week from UN-appointed rights experts that 12  months of conflict have left 24 million children at risk of a once-in-a-generation catastrophe.

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child called on Sudan to immediately end all abuse against children that put their lives at risk and had already “gravely violated” their health, development and education.

Citing “repeated attacks on civilians and civilian objects”, the independent experts condemn ned “widespread killings” - some ethnically motivated, and the death of thousands of civilians, including many youngsters.

According to the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, four million children are displaced in Sudan, making it the largest child displacement crisis in the world.

Of the 24 million children at risk, 14 million are in dire need of humanitarian support; 3.7 million are acutely malnourished, including 730,000 with severe acute malnutrition.

Mobile phones, old electronics, generate 62 million tonnes of e-waste 

The amount of electronic waste – or e-waste – that we produce is at least 62 million tonnes – and it’s rising five times faster than the amount being recycled.

That’s the worrying finding of the UN Global E-waste Monitor report, published on Thursday.

It looked into the sheer volume of old phones, batteries and other tech that’s being thrown away and found that all this e-waste would fill over one and a half million 40-tonne trucks; that’s about enough to form a bumper-to-bumper line of lorries around the equator.

Data crunched by the UN agencies behind the report - ITU and UNITAR - also found that only around 25 per cent of e-waste in 2022 was officially recorded to have been recycled.

This means that $62 billion worth of recoverable natural resources are unaccounted for, increasing pollution risks to communities worldwide. 

Globally, e-waste is rising by 2.6 million tonnes annually, meaning that we’re on track to reach 82 million tonnes by 2030. 

E-waste, any discarded product with a plug or battery, is a health and environmental hazard, containing toxic additives or hazardous substances such as mercury, which can damage the human brain and nervous system. 

Daniel Johnson, UN News.