World News Briefs: Students injured in drone strike in Sudan, dangerous homecoming in southern Lebanon, celebrate female diplomats

Senior UN officials including the Secretary-General and human rights chief have warned that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) could launch an imminent attack on the city, the capital of North Kordofan state.

Drone attack near school

Humanitarian partners reported that on Tuesday, a drone strike hit an empty fuel tanker parked near a school, injuring students.

The incident occurred near the offices of several UN aid partners.

World Health Organization (WHO) supports responses to recent escalations.

Medical supplies are readily available

The team has prepared medical supplies at El Obeid, including for trauma and injury treatment, disease prevention and response, as well as reproductive, maternal and child health, and nutrition.

The supplies are enough to treat more than 25,000 people.

Meanwhile, the need for humanitarian assistance remains enormous in Sheikan, the largest region in North Kordofan state, where nearly 800,000 people require humanitarian assistance.

The paramilitary RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have been at war since April 2023.

The UN reiterated its call for civilians and civilian architecture to be protected, and to provide safe humanitarian access to people in need.

Lebanon: Many families try to return home amid security risks

Moving to Lebanon, where more refugee families are returning to their communities in the south, or trying to return, according to the UN’s humanitarian affairs agency Ocha.

The number of people living in collective shelters also continued to decline, from 103,000 to around 72,000 last Friday.

“However, security risks remain a major concern, especially due to the large amount of unexploded ordnance and explosive remnants of war,” OCHA said.

The agency noted that local governments in several villages in Tire district in Southern Province have issued warnings in this regard.

Aid partners warn that these dangers continue to endanger civilians and pose serious obstacles to safe and sustainable returns.

International Day celebrates female diplomats

Despite progress in gender equality, the UN notes that women continue to face obstacles that prevent them from reaching the highest levels of diplomacy and international decision-making.

Women remain underrepresented among Heads of State and Government worldwide and occupy less than a quarter of cabinet ministerial positions.

Moreover, their presence is very lacking in influential portfolios such as foreign affairs, defense and security.

This issue came into focus on Wednesday, International Day of Women in Diplomacy.

“We must all do everything possible to ensure women are present at the negotiating table, our voices are heard and our contributions are valued,” said the UN Deputy Secretary-General Aminah Muhammad.

Women’s perspectives are very important

His message was also echoed by Kyrgyzstan’s Ambassador to the UN Aida Kasymalieva who said UN News that “the world will be safer when more women’s voices are included at the negotiating table.”

For the first time since joining the UN in 1992, Kyrgyzstan will serve at the UN Security Council starting January 2027.

M.S. Kasymalieva will represent her country, becoming the first woman from the Central Asian region to sit at the iconic horseshoe-shaped table.

Although she lamented the low number of women in the UN’s most important peace and security body, she insisted that female diplomats have a different perspective in international negotiations and decision-making.

“Women’s greater participation in peace and security is not just a matter of representation,” he said.

“What is a matter of making use of every available perspective, talent and experience when decisions about war and peace are being made.”