Sudan: 1,200 children died in refugee camps between May and September

Endless horror: More than 1,200 children under 5 died from measles and malnutrition in nine refugee camps in Sudan between May 15 and September 14. Tens of thousands more people could die by the end of the year, two UN agencies warned on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, we fear that this number will continue to rise,” explained Dr. Allen Maina, head of public health at the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), as 333,000 births are expected before the end of the year.

“With ongoing attacks on health and nutrition services” in Sudan, which are “devastated,” UNICEF fears in particular “that several thousand newborns will die by the end of the year,” the UN agency stressed during a press briefing. in Geneva.

“We never thought we would see so many children dying of hunger.”

A bloody conflict between rival generals erupted in April, dragging the country, one of the world’s most fragile, into a death spiral. “Every month, 55,000 children must be treated for the deadliest form of malnutrition. However, fewer than one in 50 nutrition centers operate in Khartoum, and one in 10 in West Darfur,” UNICEF spokesman James Elder told reporters at a press conference in Geneva. “Given the complete destruction of vital services,” UNICEF fears the country’s youngest people will experience a “period of unprecedented mortality,” it warned.

Thousands of children have already died and thousands more are at risk of dying “while this crisis continues,” including newborns, he said, but said it was difficult to have verifiable numbers. But he found it “difficult to understand what the world is waiting for” to act because “we are really on the edge of an abyss.” In a joint statement, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the World Health Organization (WHO) also expressed alarm over the worsening health situation caused by the crisis in Sudan. “We never imagined that so many children were dying of hunger, but this is the new reality in Sudan,” said Arif Noor, director of Save the Children in Sudan, alarmed in August.

More than 3,100 cases of suspected measles, more than 500 cases of cholera.

According to experts from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 1,200 children who died in Sudanese refugee camps came from Ethiopia and South Sudan. During the same period, more than 3,100 suspected cases of measles and more than 500 suspected cases of cholera were also reported in other parts of the country, as well as outbreaks of dengue and malaria, according to UNHCR.

“The world has the means and the money to prevent every one of these deaths related to measles or malnutrition,” U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a press release. “Yet dozens of children die every day as a result of this devastating conflict and lack of attention from the international community. We can prevent more deaths, but we need money (…), access to those who need it and, above all, an end to the fighting,” he said.

UNICEF is also short of funds. The organization has received less than a quarter of the $838 million it requested to help nearly 10 million children in Sudan, its Geneva spokesman said. “Such a shortage of funds will lead to loss of life,” he warned.