Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Sudan Humanitarian Crisis topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
U.N. warns Sudan conflict, displacement and cholera are overwhelming response capacity
Summary
At the U.N. briefing, the U.N. spokesperson said fighting in Sudan has intensified, causing mass displacement, food shortages and cholera outbreaks, and called for sustained humanitarian access and international support.
Farhan, U.N. spokesperson, said the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is alarmed by intensifying conflict across Sudan, mounting civilian casualties and worsening humanitarian conditions.
He said it has been 842 days since the current conflict erupted and reported heavy fighting in North Darfur with recent civilian casualties. In El Fasher, the spokesperson said clashes erupted in August following earlier fighting around the Abu Shook camp for displaced people, which hosts roughly 25,000 residents. He said people in El Fasher are facing starvation and that one year after famine was confirmed in Zamzam camp the city remains under siege with no road food deliveries in over a year.
The spokesperson said staple food prices such as sorghum and wheat were more than four times higher than elsewhere in Sudan, limiting many families’ ability to buy basic goods. He said limited cash assistance continues but remains far short of needs and that front lines in parts of the country, including North Kordofan, have been volatile with towns reportedly changing hands repeatedly.
On public health, Farhan said cholera is spreading rapidly across Darfur; in North Darfur’s Tawela locality nearly 1,200 cases have been reported since late June with about 300 in children and at least 20 deaths. He said South Darfur reported more than 1,100 suspected cholera cases and 64 deaths since late May, with a reported case fatality rate above 6 percent. The U.N. children’s agency (UNICEF) warned that more than 640,000 children under 5 are at heightened risk of violence, disease and hunger in the region.
Farhan also said confirmation of land mines in multiple locations of Khartoum state — including in Mogran, Omdurman and Bari — has further restricted access to services and humanitarian aid.
