The head of UNICEF warns that four million children in Sudan are suffering from malnutrition as a result of the war

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Insights from the BBC, The New Arab, Reuters and ReliefWeb

The news

Nearly four million children in Sudan face acute malnutrition due to the ongoing conflict between the army and paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces, the head of the United Nations children’s agency has warned.

Catherine Russell told the BBC As many as nine million children in Sudan do not get enough to eat, and that it may already be too late to save some of them. The war, which started in April 2023, has limited organizations’ ability to provide essential aid.

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Persistent conflicts limit assistance

Sources: The New Arab, BBC

So are both warring parties prevent humanitarian aid from reaching people in need, creating obstacles such as bureaucratic hurdles, limits on entry points, lack of security guarantees, attacks on humanitarian workers, looting and telecommunications disruptions, wrote The New Arab. Russell told the BBC that while she could not confirm that hunger was being used as a weapon of war, it was a ‘100% man-made’ crisiswhile the head of a UN fact-finding mission for Sudan said last week it was difficult to see the situation improving “without an immediate ceasefire.”

Parts of Sudan are likely already suffering from famine, despite the lack of an official declaration

Sources: Reuters, International Rescue Committee, The New Arab

A famine has not yet been officially declared in Sudan, but a special US envoy to the country told Reuters that some parts already reached that stage. With both the military and paramilitaries blocking access to data collection, famine should never be formally declared, the International Rescue Committee noted. Even if that were the case, a senior researcher at a Dutch think tank told The New Arab that a formal determination often comes when the situation on the ground has already reached the point of catastrophe. “By that time, Any food aid will come too late to save anyone in this category,” she said.

The humanitarian crisis extends beyond national borders

Sources: ReliefWeb, UNHCR, National Center for Social Research

The consequences of the conflict in Sudan are also palpable felt in neighboring countriesAccording to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, border countries such as Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan have become destinations for refugees. According to the UNHCR, nearly 600,000 people have fled from Sudan to Chad since early 2023, contributing to a humanitarian crisis in the country. In Egypt, the arrival of refugees This adds new pressure to an already struggling economywrote the National Center for Social Research.

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