\n
<\/p>\n
Only 16 at the time, she saw armed men attacking her village and killing people \u2013 her grandfather and uncle among them. Girls were raped or taken.<\/p>\n
\u201cNahed managed to escape but said it was terrifying,\u201d said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell\u00a0who described Nahed\u2019s story on Tuesday. \u201cThe chilling memories remain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sudan is in the midst of the world\u2019s most severe humanitarian crisis, since the conflict erupted 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which now controls North Darfur\u2019s devastated capital, El Fasher, after more than 500 days of siege.<\/p>\n
Ms. Russell called for urgent action to safeguard children and essential services on Tuesday after visiting the country, where an estimated 10 million people have been displaced \u2013 half of them children.<\/p>\n
During her visit to Kassala in the east of the country, Ms. Russell met women and teenage girls receiving psychosocial support and skills training at a UNICEF-supported centre.<\/p>\n
Many fled violence and found care and safety at the centre, but similar services are extremely limited in Darfur and Kordofan states due to ongoing insecurity.<\/p>\n
\u201cChildren in Sudan are living through unrelenting violence, hunger and fear,\u201d stressed Ms. Russell. \u201cWomen and girls are bearing the brunt of the crisis, including horrific levels of sexual violence<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n Briefing journalists from Sudan on Tuesday, UN reproductive health agency (UNFPA) country representative Fabrizia Falcione said she met survivors from El Fasher who had lost everything, including a 17-year-old girl with a 40-day old child born out of rape.<\/p>\n None of the women she spoke to had received a single antenatal care consultation before giving birth.<\/p>\n \u201cThey told me that they preferred not to go to the hospital rather than risking their lives trying to reach it<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n When Ms. Falcione asked displaced women what they needed the most, they answered toilets and bread. A way to earn a living came in third.<\/p>\n \u201cNo toilets anywhere near their tents, no lights in the camp at night,\u201d said Ms. Falcione. \u201cAnd these are pregnant women without men in their households.\u201d<\/p>\nWe need toilets and bread<\/strong><\/h2>\n