Sudan: UNICEF Warns of Grave Risk for Millions of Children
Sudanese Children, Oct 8, 2024 Photo: UNICEF Sudan
October 8, 2024 Hour: 8:36 pm
For UNICEF the events in Al Kuma are not isolated after receiving more reports of civilians killed and injured in Melit, North Darfur state.
On Tuesday, UNICEF said that the ongoing violence and widespread disease outbreaks are keeping millions of children in Sudan at grave risk today after more than a year and a half of conflict.
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In a statement released here, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) denounced recent atrocities in North Darfur, where at least 13 children were killed and four others injured during air strikes in Al Kuma late last week.
The agency’s representative in the African nation, Sheldon Yett, called this and any other aggression against Sudanese children unacceptable.
“Children have no role to play in wars or civil conflict, but it is children who suffer the most as the conflict in Sudan continues,” he added.
For UNICEF, however, the events in Al Kuma are not isolated after receiving more reports of civilians killed and injured in Melit, North Darfur state.
Since the start of the conflict, more than 150 schools and hospitals have been attacked, and health centers, water points and markets have been damaged and destroyed, further endangering the well-being of Sudan’s young population.
‘In the first days of October alone, tens of thousands of people have been displaced across the country because of the fighting,’ confirmed Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
In states such as North Darfur, West Darfur and Sennar, air strikes, clashes between rival forces and insecurity near villages and markets have displaced some 42,000 people, both within Sudan and across borders, he said.
‘If the conflict continues unabated, we fear this horrendous situation will persist,’ he said.
Thousands of children and families remain trapped in areas of violence, insecurity and lack of protection as disregard for the safety and rights of children continues, he insisted.
The conflict that erupted in April 2023 is keeping 11 million people from their homes, including some 2.9 million forced to seek refuge in neighboring countries, in what experts consider the world’s largest displacement crisis.
Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and its rival Rapid Support Forces has destroyed countless livelihoods, plunging the country into a complex spiral of hunger and death.
Autor: OSG
Fuente: EFE-Africanews
