By Ebi Kesiena
The United Nations children’s agency has disclosed thattThe conflict in Sudan has displaced more than one million children including 270,000 in the Darfur region, warning that many more were at “grave risk”.
Recall that fighting has raged in Sudan since mid-April between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
UNICEF said in a statement on Friday that more than one million displaced, at least 330 children have been killed and more than 1,900 others wounded,
Mandeep O’Brien, UNICEF representative in Sudan, said: “The future of Sudan is at stake, and we cannot accept the continued loss and suffering of its children.
“Children are trapped in an unrelenting nightmare, bearing the heaviest burden of a violent crisis they had no hand in creating caught in the crossfire, injured, abused, displaced and subjected to disease and malnutrition,” he added.
UNICEF said an estimated 13 million children were in “dire need” of humanitarian assistance.
The UN agency said it was ready to assist them but called for “safe, unrestricted access and guaranteed security to all areas where children are in desperate need”.
Also, it said the situation in the western region of Darfur where 270,000 children are said to have been displaced by the fighting was especially concerning.
“The situation in West and Central Darfur, in particular, is characterised by active fighting, severe insecurity and looting of humanitarian supplies and facilities
“The lack of safe water has left hundreds of thousands of children at risk of dehydration, diarrhoea, and malnutrition,” said UNICEF.
