Edited News , Press Conferences | UNHCR , UNICEF , WFP
STORYLINE
Half of Sudan’s most vulnerable children could die without humanitarian aid, warns UN
The situation for Sudan’s most vulnerable children is so desperate that half of the most severely malnourished youngsters are expected to die without urgent humanitarian intervention, UN agencies said on Friday.
“As we speak today, 650,000 kids are suffering from severe acute malnutrition. If not treated, half of them will die,” said UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative in Sudan, Mandeep O Brien, underscoring what veteran aid workers have called an unprecedented crisis.
Spiralling recent problems in Sudan have their roots in a military coup in October 2021 that prompted a freeze in international funding for aid operations and which has forced UN relief teams to cut rations in half, in some cases.
Ongoing political “tumult” has also weakened State support structures for struggling families, who have had to contend with dramatic food price hikes and intertribal violence, said the UN World Food Programme’s (WFP) Country Director in Sudan, Eddie Rowe.
“At the moment, WFP (has) projected that about 15 million people would go hungry every day since the hunger season started, and we are now doing an assessment because our indicators projected that this could rise up to 18 million by the end of this month,” he said.
“We are still grappling with an increased incidence of intertribal conflicts and violence, and this in fact has spread now not just to Darfur, but to other parts of the country…The Ukraine War also has had some significant impact. All of this in the context of a political unstable country, has resulted in an unprecedented humanitarian crisis this year.”
In an appeal to the international community to “stand in solidarity with the children of Sudan”, UNICEF’s Mandeep O Brien noted that the crisis reflected much more than a lack of food, with basic health services, clean water, sanitation and education severely lacking.
“Routine immunization, unfortunately, is declining in Sudan. Between 2019 and 2021, the number of children who have not received a single dose of lifesaving vaccines has doubled,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Echoing those concerns, UN refugee agency (UNHCR) Representative in Sudan, Axel Bisschop, warned that refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) in Sudan had seen living costs “skyrocket”.
This was linked to the “ripple effects of the war in Ukraine, lingering impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, and extreme weather resulting from the climate crisis,” he said.
“Sudan is hosting today about 1.1 million refugees,” the UNHCR official explained, noting that fresh intercommunal clashes this year and the burning and looting of villages, markets, houses, and livestock across the Darfur states, Kordofan and Blue Nile States had displaced over 177,000 people. “We also have around 3.7 million internally displaced. And as outlined by my colleagues here, the humanitarian crisis, which is actually resulting itself in a food crisis, is impacting the marginalized communities and amongst those, refugees and the IDPs.”
Humanitarian funding levels for all three agencies remain far below where they need to be to provide effective prevention support. The fear is that unless pledges are forthcoming soon, the cost of having to respond to a far greater emergency will be far higher.
Illustrating the extent of the funding gap, by 13 September, UNHCR had received just one third of the $348.9 million needed this year to deliver an effective response and provide life-saving assistance and protection amidst the growing needs.
ends
STORY: Sudan Alert – WFP, UNICEF, UNHCR
TRT: 2 mins 41s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 23 September 2022 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
Medium shot, speaker
1
1
1
Press Conferences | WMO
Sara Basart, WMO Scientific Officer, speaks.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IFRC , OHCHR , WHO , UNCTAD
Rolando Gómez, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section at the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives from the International Trade Centre, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, World Health Organization, and United Nations Trade and Development.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the United Nations bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights made the following comments on the recent violence in Kenya.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | ITC
1
1
1
Edited News | ITC
US tariffs uncertainty hurts world economy, with poorest countries hit hardest – top UN economist
A new US decision to further delay the end of a 90-day pause on tariffs is bad for business, a top UN economist said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | WIPO , UNICEF , UNHCR , WHO , IFRC
Rolando Gómez, of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Federation of the Red Cross, the World Intellectual Property Organisation, the Organisation Internationale pour la Francophonie, and the GIGA Connectivity Forum.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , OHCHR
Gaza aid site horror continues as more starving people shot trying to get food
Amid intensifying hopes for a new Gaza ceasefire, UN humanitarians confirmed disturbing details on Friday of continued killings and injuries of Palestinians desperately seeking food at aid sites.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | HRC
Launch of the latest report of the Special Rapporteur "From economy of occupation to economy of genocide".
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
A clearer picture of needs across Iran is beginning to emerge after the conflict this month with Israel, which left hundreds dead, several hospitals hit and a spike in Afghan refugees returning home, the UN’s top official in Tehran said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WMO
The blistering early-summer heatwave that’s brought life-threatening temperatures across much of the northern hemisphere is a worrying sign of things to come, UN weather experts said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IFRC , WFP , WMO
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the United Nations in Iran, the World Food Programme, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Meteorological Organisation, and the International Federation of the Red Cross.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk made the following remarks to the Human Rights Council annual panel on adverse impacts of climate change.