The global spokesman for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), James Alder, warned of a humanitarian catastrophe that could overtake Sudan, noting that “children are dying, and famine has begun.”
Alder told Erem News: “The escalating violence in Sudan, which has been ongoing for 16 months, has resulted in the killing or injury of thousands of children, as we have seen, and forced recruitment operations, and this horrific situation has been far from the eyes of the world.”
“We are talking about the areas that we as a UN organization can reach, and the horrific scenes that we see, but we know that the situation is much worse in the areas that cannot be reached,” he added.
He pointed out that “the whole world knows about this suffering, but it closes its eyes and ignores the great suffering that millions of Sudanese children are suffering.”
“Ignoring what is happening in Sudan represents a continuation of a dangerous path of global ‘indifference’ towards the lives of innocent people in Sudan,” he said, explaining that “many hospitals, health centres and schools have been damaged or destroyed, while we know that many frontline workers, including nurses, doctors and social workers, have not received their wages.”
He stressed that “cholera, malaria and measles pose a growing threat, especially to malnourished children,” saying: “Therefore, our concern for children here in Sudan is not just a moral obligation, but rather a matter of utmost importance to avoid falling into a humanitarian disaster that may have repercussions beyond Sudan.”
“The population of the capital is 10 million people, at least half of whom have been forced to flee, and many of whom have fled more than once from several places,” added Alder, who is visiting Sudan, where he is currently based in the capital, Khartoum.
“We see here that childhood is being destroyed,” he said. “Yesterday I was in the hospital, where there were children aged 10, 11 and 13 who were seriously injured after a shell hit a UNICEF playground while they were playing football. Two children were killed in a space that was supposed to be safe for children.”
He revealed “confirmations that some parts of Sudan will reach famine, and UNICEF and the United Nations have been warning for a long time that Sudan’s children cannot wait and now they are dying.”
He stressed that “there is nothing worse than declaring a state of famine, and we have already reached it in some parts of Sudan, but there are currently 700,000 children suffering from the most serious forms of malnutrition, which is severe acute malnutrition, and this is the highest number on the planet, calling for it to be treated.”
“We now know how we can save their lives if we have the access and the funding, then we don’t have to lose anyone, but when we can’t reach them, and we don’t have the funding, then we risk losing tens of thousands of children, and it’s not a matter of lack of knowledge, it’s a matter of lack of will,” he added.
Alder regretted the lack of safe places for children, saying: “We now have 14 million children, and more than half of the country’s children need humanitarian aid.”
Regarding his message to the international community, Elder said, “UNICEF and the United Nations have been calling for months for unhindered access to those children who need support.”
“This conflict must stop and we must ensure the protection of children, women and civilian infrastructure,” Elder concluded.
According to United Nations data, fighting has been ongoing between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces since mid-April 2023, resulting in about 13,100 deaths, while the total number of displaced people in Sudan has reached about 7.9 million people, and about 2.1 million people to neighboring countries.
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2024-08-13 22:44:13