2023-08-25 18:33:50
Women who fled the war in Sudan wait for the distribution of international aid rations, in a refugee camp near the town of Adre, in eastern Chad, on August 15, 2023. MOHANED BELAL / AFP
War and hunger threaten” take away “ all of Sudan and tip the region into a humanitarian disaster, warned the UN on Friday, August 25, which lacks funds and faces bureaucratic obstacles to delivering aid.
Since April 15, fierce fighting has pitted the army against the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces. “The longer the fighting goes on, the more devastating its impact. In some places there is already no more food. Hundreds of thousands of children suffer from severe malnutrition and risk imminent death if not treated”warns the United Nations Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, in a press release, adding: “This spreading conflict – and the resulting hunger, disease and displacement of people – now threatens to overtake the whole country. »
In Geneva, its spokesman, Jens Laerke, told a press briefing that the UN faces two problems: the lack of funds and the difficulties of access to the population, due to insecurity. but also many “bureaucratic hurdles” that impede the delivery of aid. As a result, containers are stranded in Port Sudan, where the UN has established its logistics hub, and the UN is not granted enough visas to bring the necessary personnel into the country.
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380,000 people fled the country
The UN has received only 26% of the 2.6 billion dollars (2.4 billion euros) requested to fund aid to Sudan this year. However, according to the World Health Organization, 20.3 million people in Sudan – more than 42% of the population – have suffered from high levels of food insecurity since July. Diseases (measles, malaria, dengue, etc.) are spreading throughout the country and most people have no access to medical treatment. “The conflict has decimated the health sector, with most hospitals out of service”notes Mr. Griffiths.
The war is the cause of the death of 5,000 people, according to the NGO Acled. The actual balance sheet could be higher. The United Nations is particularly concerned about reports of the use of children as soldiers. Aid workers have heard from mothers and children telling journalists that they are being used as “weapon of war to kill”according to the spokesperson for Unicef in Geneva, James Elder.
The intense fighting that has ravaged the capital, Khartoum, and Darfur since mid-April has spread to Kordofan, in the south of the country. In four months, more than 4.6 million people have been forced to flee the clashes, including nearly 1 million in neighboring countries. Since the start of the conflict, 380,000 people have fled to Chad, recalled Médecins sans frontières (MSF) on Friday. “The care is insufficient, there are not even enough camps today to be able to shelter all those who need it”told reporters an MSF emergency aid manager, Trish Newport, who is calling for a “massive and rapid increase in humanitarian aid”.
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