UN aid chief presses RSF leader for access as child casualties mount

July 6, 2026 (UNITED NATIONS) – The United Nations humanitarian chief has held a telephone call with the head of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to demand safe access for aid workers and civilians amid escalating hostilities and drone strikes in the country, the U.N. said on Monday.

Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, spoke with RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo to address worsening violence in regions like El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state. Fletcher raised alarms over bureaucratic obstacles crippling relief efforts and the devastating impact of drone attacks on civilian infrastructure.

The diplomatic push coincided with a decision by the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday to order an urgent international inquiry into alleged atrocities and human rights violations committed in and around El Obeid. The resolution, adopted by consensus, tasks the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan to probe the abuses.

The scale of civilian suffering in El Obeid was underscored by fresh U.N. data showing that at least 18 children have been killed and 17 injured in the city since May. Across Sudan, the U.N. children’s agency reported that at least 330 children were killed or injured during the first six months of 2026.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk is scheduled to provide an oral update on the situation in El Obeid to the Human Rights Council before the Council concludes its session in September.

Despite the gridlock caused by the civil war, the U.N. said some aid managed to reach those in need. A joint humanitarian convoy consisting of 21 trucks from the World Food Programme, World Health Organization, and Plan International reached Kadugli and Dilling in South Kordofan on Thursday, delivering food and crucial medical kits to combat a rising cholera outbreak.

The shipment marked the first U.N. supplies to reach those areas since early June. To combat the worsening health crisis in West Kordofan, where more than 800 cholera cases have been recorded, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has allocated over $1 million for water, sanitation, and medical interventions.

However, humanitarian activities remain severely restricted in the western Darfur region. Continued clashes in West Darfur’s Kulbus locality have forced aid partners to suspend operations, while separate insecurity in North Darfur’s Um Baru locality displaced more than 3,500 people on July 3, according to the International Organization for Migration.