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27 June 2024 (New York) – An estimated 3.7 million children in war-torn Sudan are likely to suffer from acute malnutrition this year, with more than 730,000 already facing severe acute malnutrition and at imminent risk of death if they do not receive treatment, a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) official has revealed.
UNICEF’s director of emergencies, Lucia Elmi, said the figure was expected to be the highest in a decade.
“It is important to understand how dangerous severe acute malnutrition really is. It is life-threatening, making children 11 times more likely to die than their well-nourished peers. Even when children are able to recover from malnutrition, the impact on their physical and mental development can be lifelong and irreversible,” she said.
Food shortages are already widespread in Sudan, which will have a devastating impact on Sudanese children and pose a particularly worrying risk.
“But we also know how to treat these children and save their lives, and in response, UNICEF is stepping up efforts with partners to prevent the situation from getting worse. We have expanded our nutrition-focused partnerships to 152 locations, ensuring a presence in 93 priority areas,” Elmi explained.
UNICEF says it has set up more than 1,700 health facilities and 60 mobile teams that have taken in more than 100,000 severely malnourished children this year alone.
“In addition, we have established 170 new nutrition posts and distributed Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF) across Sudan’s 18 states, enough to treat 180,000 children. However, as today’s snapshot shows, despite these efforts, major challenges remain, especially for children,” said the senior UNICEF official.
The ongoing war in Sudan has severely impacted the delivery of humanitarian aid. Violence and bureaucracy have hampered access to conflict-affected areas, leaving countless women and children without vital nutritional support.
“As we face a growing risk of conflict-induced famine, a comprehensive and adequately funded response is urgently needed. UNICEF and its partners are currently facing a significant funding gap. UNICEF alone requires US$ 120 million to fully implement our famine prevention programmes. We expect renewed and substantial support from donors and, most importantly, that the commitments we have already made are delivered on time,” stressed Elmi.
At the same time, we call on all parties to the conflict and all actors to provide immediate, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access through all possible cross-line and cross-border routes so that children and their communities can access nutrition, water, health care and the shelter they need.
“Above all, children need peace – an immediate de-escalation in El Fasher and a nationwide ceasefire. Without peace, their chances of survival are reduced and the prospect of a brighter future remains a distant dream,” Elmi noted.
She added: “We must therefore come together as a global community to address this crisis with urgency and resolve. The window of opportunity to avert the worst-case scenario is rapidly disappearing and the lives of Sudan’s children depend on our collective action.”
More than 25 million civilians in Sudan and those who have fled the war between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are starving and in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, aid agencies say.
(English stone)
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