The United Nations said Wednesday that the secretary-general's personal envoy, Ram Tam Lamamra, is preparing to travel to Port Sudan and Addis Ababa next week to press parties toward dialogue as fighting in Sudan continues to displace large numbers of civilians.

Spokesperson said Lamamra "is preparing to travel to Port Sudan in Addis Ababa next week" and is "in regular contact with the parties and to encourage them to engage in a genuine dialogue to advance peace." The envoy, the spokesperson added, is coordinating closely with regional partners including the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and the League of Arab States.

Humanitarian agencies reported new displacement across Kordofan. The International Organization for Migration told the briefing that on a recent Tuesday more than 1,800 people were displaced across multiple localities in South Kordofan, and that in North Kordofan "nearly 40,000 people" were uprooted between Oct. 25 and Nov. 18. The spokesperson said those movements and insecurity are driving large needs for shelter, food and basic services.

Food assistance operations are continuing where access allows. The spokesperson reported that teams from the World Food Programme are supporting families who fled El Fash and Zamzam and that "1,485 metric tons of food and nutrition supplies, enough for about 130,000 people, are en route" to Tequila via the Daba crossing in northern state.

Funding shortfalls are deep. The briefing said the OCHA-managed Sudan Humanitarian Fund had released "more than $5,000,000" to support four international NGOs providing health, nutrition, water and sanitation, shelter and protection services, and that the Sudan Humanitarian Fund had allotted $33,000,000 this year to projects that reached some 1,600,000 people. The global humanitarian appeal for the year of $4.2 billion was described as "just over one-third funded," with roughly $1.4 billion available in the bank.

The spokesperson urged donors to step up contributions as needs deepen and said the protection of civilians and unimpeded humanitarian access will be priorities for the envoy's discussions.

Next steps: the envoy's planned travel and continued engagement with regional partners were presented as the immediate diplomatic response; the UN called for expanded donor support to meet urgent humanitarian needs.