News Center- The United Nations alone documented over 33,000 civilian deaths in armed conflicts in 2023, a horrific 72 per cent increase compared to the previous year, Joyce Msuya, UN Deputy Relief Coordinator, told ambassadors at the Security Council on Tuesday.

‘Over 75 per cent of the Gaza’s population is forcibly displaced’

Joyce Msuya drew particular attention to the desperate situation in Gaza that has “resulted in death, destruction and suffering at a pace and scale unprecedented in the recent past.”

“Tens of thousands have been killed and wounded. Over 75 per cent of the enclave’s population is forcibly displaced and a famine is looming,” Joyce Msuya said. “Thousands of children have been killed and injured in what UNICEF colleagues have called a ‘war on children’.”

Civilian deaths in conflicts rise by 72% in 2023

Joyce Msuya mentioned civilian deaths in armed conflicts in Gaza, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, the Sahel region, Somalia, Syria or Ukraine. Although the United Nations has recorded the deaths of more than 33,000 civilians in armed conflicts in 2023, a 72% increase compared to 2022, Joyce Msuya stressed that the real numbers are probably higher. “Across all conflicts, civilians accounted for 90 per cent of those killed and injured when explosive weapons were used in populated areas,” she said.

Over 110 million people worldwide forcibly displaced in the first half of 2023

At the end of June 2023, 110 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced from their homes due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order in the first half of 2023, according to the report published by the UNHCR.

Alice Wairimu Nderitu, UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, also addressed the Security Council, sounding the alarm over the situation in Sudan. “Civilian populations are targeted on the basis of identity [they] have been attacked and killed because of the colour of their skin, because of their ethnicity, because of who they are,” she said, underscoring the urgency of ensuring that civilians are protected.

“The risk of genocide exists in Sudan. It is real and it is growing, every single day,” she added.