United Nations, Sep 20 (IANS) The lethal combination of hunger, displacement and disease outbreaks in Sudan is creating “a perfect storm” for a catastrophic loss of lives, UN humanitarians warned.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said it sounded the alarm about a devastating cost to human life if the international community fails to act by providing aid funding, Xinhua news agency reported.
“To fight hunger in the country, the World Food Programme (WFP) is rushing to reach people in the grip of famine,” OCHA said.
However, the office said that without consistent humanitarian access, it will be impossible to meet growing needs.
OCHA said WFP is working around the clock to reach 8.4 million people by the end of the year. So far, the agency has assisted more than 5 million people, including 1.2 million in the western Darfur region.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports moving life-saving nutrition supplies to treat 215,000 severely malnourished children in Sudan. The agency and its partners also provided 6.6 million children and their families with safe drinking water this year, when disease outbreaks — including cholera — are worsening.
UNICEF said children account for about half of the more than 10 million people who have fled their homes since the conflict in Sudan erupted last year.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reports that 2 million of the displaced crossed into neighbouring countries, where it is delivering urgent support.
UNHCR said it is working to provide critical protection services and life-saving assistance, including psychosocial support for survivors of gender-based violence, child protection, and helping move the vast numbers of new arrivals away from border areas to safer locations in the countries of asylum.
“Unfortunately, these efforts are severely hampered by the lack of funding, as well as flooding and insecurity,” OCHA said. “Eighty-six partners are mobilised to provide support through this year’s $1.5 billion plan to support the regional refugee response in seven neighbouring countries, but the appeal is less than a quarter funded, with only $347 million received.”
The office said that in addition to humanitarian aid, development investments are significant in neighbouring countries, which are already stretched, and crucial to supporting host communities.
Meanwhile, the response inside Sudan is less than half funded, with the 2024 appeal receiving just $1.3 billion of the 2.7 billion needed to reach 14.7 million people in the country through the end of the year.
Next Wednesday, OCHA said, the agency and UNHCR plan to host a meeting of representatives of the world body and UN member countries on the sidelines of the General Assembly’s annual VIP-rich General Debate to discuss the spiralling crisis in the Sudan region.
–IANS
int/rs/svn
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
