1,200 children die from measles, malnutrition in White Nile: UN
September 21, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – More than 1,200 children have died in Sudan’s White Nile State due to suspected measles and underlying malnutrition, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said.
About 5.3 million people, it said, have so far been displaced due to conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Last week, humanitarian and human rights organizations urged more assistance and solidarity with Sudan, amid concerns that over 1,000 suspected measles cases were reported, bringing the total number of cases to 4,334 since April 15.
According to the UN and humanitarian partners, at least 72,000 people have been affected by heavy rains and flooding across 16 localities in seven states.
Half of the population or 24.7 million people in Sudan urgently need humanitarian aid and protection, the UN humanitarian agency (UNOCHA) said on Monday.
Sudan, OCHA stated, was grappling with a protracted economic crisis and pre-existing conflicts before its current fighting involving the national army and RSF.
Over the past three years, it noted, there has been a notable rise in the number of people in need of assistance, surging from 50.1 million in 2021 to 73 million in 2023 in Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Sudan.
“This year, humanitarian partners are aiming to reach 51.9 million people with life-saving assistance, a 19 per cent increase compared to 2022,” said OCHA.
It further added, “This includes 2.4 million people in CAR, 4.4 million in Chad, 20.1 million in Ethiopia, 6.8 million in South Sudan and 18.1 million in Sudan”.
According the UN humanitarian agency, despite these pressing needs and overstretched resources, funding remains inadequate to respond at scale.
Last week, the humanitarian agency cautioned that situation in Sudan will get immeasurably worse unless urgent action is taken by the international community.
Five months of brutal conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, have fueled a humanitarian crisis of epic and tragic proportions.
The fighting, OCHA said, has displaced more than 5.25 million people inside and outside the country since clashes erupted between rival military forces on 15 April.
At least 20.3 million people across Sudan are acutely food insecure and need food and livelihood assistance between July and September 2023, according to the latest integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) on the war-torn nation.
(ST)