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As heavy fighting continues between former allies the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and their allies, the UN Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF), said that in parts of North Darfur more than half of all children are acutely malnourished<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The warning follows the release of new data from the\u00a0IPC, a UN-backed global food security monitoring system, from three localities there \u2013 Um Baru and Kernoi and At Tine \u2013 indicating \u201ccatastrophic\u201d malnutrition rates.<\/p>\n \u201cExtreme hunger and malnutrition come for children first, the youngest, the smallest, the most vulnerable,\u201d said UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires. \u201cIn Sudan, it\u2019s spreading… These are children between six months and five years old, and they are running out of time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The UN agency stressed that famine thresholds have been surpassed in locations not previously considered at risk, such as Um Baru and Kernoi.\u00a0<\/p>\n Conflict, mass displacement, the collapse of services and blocked access which have sparked starvation alerts for these localities exist \u201cacross vast swathes of Sudan\u201d, Mr. Pires insisted.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf famine is looming there, it can take hold anywhere<\/strong>,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n Mr. Pires also warned of the prevalence of disease as a further threat to children\u2019s survival:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThese children are not just hungry; nearly half of all children in At Tine had been sick in the previous two weeks. Fever, diarrhoea, respiratory infections, low vaccination coverage, unsafe water and a collapsing health system are turning treatable illnesses into death sentences for already malnourished children.\u201d<\/p>\n He called on the world to \u201cstop looking away\u201d from Sudan’s children, warning that more than half of the youngsters in North Darfur\u2019s Um Baru are \u201cwasting away while we watch\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat is not a statistic. Those are children with names and a future that are being stolen,\u201d the UNICEF spokesperson said.<\/p>\n Nearly three years since war erupted between the once-allied Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), 13.6 million people have fled their homes, including 9.1 million displaced within the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dr\u00a0Shible\u00a0Sahbani, the UN World Health Organization (WHO)\u2019s representative in Sudan, told reporters that while the displaced require \u201curgent\u201d care, the health system has been \u201cravaged by attacks, loss and damage of equipment and supplies, a shortage of health workforce and operational funds\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since the start of the war in April 2023, WHO has verified 205 attacks on health care that have led to 1,924 deaths and 529 injuries, Dr Sahbani said.<\/p>\n \u201cSuch attacks deprive communities of care for years to come, instilling terror in patients and health workers and creating unsurmountable barriers to life-saving treatment,\u201d he added. Meanwhile, the country faces multiple disease outbreaks, including cholera, malaria, dengue and measles.<\/p>\n While WHO and partners are supporting the response to these outbreaks, Dr. Sahbani insisted on the need for greater access and protection of health workers and facilities, in line with international humanitarian law.<\/p>\n \u201cPatients and healthcare workers should not risk death while seeking and providing care<\/strong>,\u201d he said. \u201cAbove all, we call for peace…Peace is long due for Sudan.\u201d<\/p>\n His call echoed that of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker T\u00fcrk, who on Monday once again sounded the alarm over the deadly conflict in Sudan, briefing the Human Rights Council in Geneva on the \u201cpreventable human rights catastrophe\u201d that took place in North Darfur\u2019s capital El Fasher in October last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Thousands of people were killed there in a matter of days after an 18-month-long siege of the city, multiple testimonies gathered by Mr. T\u00fcrk\u2019s office have indicated.<\/p>\n The new danger is a possible repeat of these abuses in the Kordofan region, he said.<\/p>\n Responding to journalists\u2019 questions in Geneva about the involvement of other countries in the conflict, the High Commissioner\u2019s spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani underscored his concerns \u2013 \u201cwhether they’re directly involved, whether there are mercenaries on the ground from different countries, whether they’re providing arms, intelligence, funding or other support, whether they’re involved in the political economy of the conflict in Sudan\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nStarvation spreading<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Healthcare under attack<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Kordofans could be next<\/strong><\/h2>\n