Deaths rise in Darfur displacement camps as malnutrition rates spike

April 6, 2024 (EL FASHER) – Adam Rijal, the spokesman for the Coordination for Displaced Persons and Refugees in Darfur, revealed on Saturday a steady increase in malnutrition rates among children and pregnant women in displacement centres in the Darfur region.

The World Health Organization says that 3.5 million Sudanese children suffer from malnutrition, of whom more than 700,000 suffer from severe acute malnutrition. Among these, 106,000 children suffer from severe acute malnutrition with medical complications.

Rijal told Sudan Tribune, “13 children die every day in the Zamzam camp for displaced people in the city of El Fasher, while critical cases in the Kalma camp range from 14 to 18 cases, in one treatment centre out of three.”

He reported that most deaths of children under the age of five are caused by malnutrition, affecting not only children but also those with chronic diseases and pregnant women, some of whom have suffered miscarriages due to malnutrition.

The IDP spokesman pointed out that 8 out of every 10 individuals in displacement centres suffer from a lack of food, and they usually suffice with one meal a day.

He described the situation in the displacement centres as dire due to the lack of food and life-saving medicines, potable water, and sewage explosions that caused the environment to deteriorate.

Rijal spoke about the emergence of cases of watery diarrhoea, gastrointestinal diseases, and other diseases among the displaced, stressing that the Darfur region will lose more lives if humanitarian aid does not arrive.

The United Nations World Food Program recently brought food supplies into Darfur for the first time in months. The Sudanese authorities authorized aid delivery through government-controlled areas. Still, the RSF has opposed the decision and calls on the UN agencies to deliver directly to the states they control in Darfur via the Chadian border.