UNICEF Warns from Forgotten Crisis of Sudanese children after 200 days of war
Sudan Events -Talal Mudathir
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday that Sudan’s children need immediate support from the international community to prevent the country from becoming “another forgotten humanitarian disaster.”
The organization said in a statement that as the war enters its “two hundredth” day, children are still “paying the highest price for a crisis not of their making – increasingly with their lives,” as three million have fled the ongoing fighting between the government army and the rebel Rapid Support militia, most of them inside Sudan.
Hundreds of thousands of people are taking refuge in temporary camps in neighboring countries.
The agency said that about 14 million children in Sudan are in urgent need of life-saving humanitarian aid.
“Many of them live in a state of constant fear – the fear of being killed, injured, conscripted or used by armed actors.” Said the agency.
Reports of conflict-related sexual violence, including rape, are widespread as fighting has intensified in recent weeks in places such as Khartoum, Darfur and Kordofan.
“To date, UNICEF has received allegations of more than 3,100 grave violations, including the killing and mutilation of children.” The organization added.
“At the same time, none of Sudan’s children have been able to return to school, and the future of an entire generation is now at stake. There are 19 million children in Sudan who are unable to return to the classroom.” The statement shed light on another crisis.
The organization added that UNICEF and its partners are providing life-saving assistance to millions of children inside Sudan and in neighboring countries, including water, health, nutrition, safe spaces and learning. But needs outweigh resources.
“We need safe and unhindered humanitarian access to deliver life-saving supplies and services to reach every child in need,” Concluded the organization.
