One civilian was killed approximately every 14 minutes in conflict zones worldwide in 2025, with civilians, including children, dying in their homes, markets, workplaces, schools, on roads and while attempting to flee in search of safety, the United Nations said.
“Explosive weapons continue to tear through towns and cities, destroying not only lives but the systems that sustain them such as power grids, water networks, schools, and hospitals,” Director of the Crisis Response Division for OCHA Edem Wosornu said during a briefing to the Security Council on the protection of civilians in armed conflict.
She added that civilians are all too often not collateral damage in conflicts but are directly targeted, noting that the UN recorded more than 1,350 attacks on medical care across 18 conflicts worldwide over the past year.
The UN official also pointed to the worsening hunger crisis driven by conflict in 2025, with around 147 million people facing acute food insecurity.
She said that two cases of famine have been verified in recent months, not because of a lack of food, but as a result of the way hostilities are conducted by parties to the conflicts, including the imposition of blockades and the obstruction of humanitarian assistance from reaching those in need.
