Number of children displaced across Sudan highest in the world, says agency
September 9, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – The conflict in Sudan has reached a grim new milestone, with the country now holding the highest number of internally displaced people on earth, an international children charity said on Friday.
Save the Children, in a statement, said at least 7.1 million people, including an estimated 3.3 million children, are now displaced from their homes across Sudan.
Millions of desperate families fleeing conflict are now sheltering wherever they can find safety, including in schools, in camps, with relatives, and in some cases out in the open, it said, adding, “Many families have found themselves displaced multiple times, when the place they were seeking safety came under attack”.
“Millions of displaced children and families need help, now. They need food, water, shelter, clothing, medicines – the absolute basics. Beyond this they need psychological support to help cope with the intense stress they are under. Children have been on the run for four months now; they have lost family members and have watched their homes and schools, places they once felt safe, become rubble. The situation is critical,” said Dr. Arif Noor, Save the Children’s Country Director in Sudan.
Prior to the conflict in Sudan, around 3.2 million people were reportedly already displaced, in addition to the 1.1 million refugees who were living in the country.
Many communities where newly displaced families are arriving are already facing challenges as a result of existing crises, with basic services already overstretched.
Massive aid funding shortfalls, combined with drastically reduced domestic food production and severe water shortages has left displaced families in a dire situation. Looting, delays in approvals and attacks on humanitarian assets, including warehouses have further hampered the relief effort and made delivering essentials to displaced families in some places near to impossible.
“The war in Sudan shows no signs of abating. In fact, it is getting worse. The cost of inaction is severe. The international community needs to step up and work to collectively ensure that funding is channeled directly to community groups, who still have access, and work to secure access to ensure life-saving aid is delivered to children and families before it’s too late,” stressed Dr. Noor.
According to Save the Children, at least 435 children have reportedly been killed in the ongoing Sudan conflict and a further 498 died from hunger, although these figures are an underestimate and the true toll is likely to be far higher.
More than 7 million people have been displaced inside and outside Sudan due to the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
The number of displaced people in Sudan now eclipses other war-torn countries with massive internal displacements, including the next highest country Syria (6.6 million), the Democratic Republic of Congo (6.1 million) and Ukraine (5.1 million).
(ST)