“Death is a constant threat”: UNICEF draws a bleak picture of Sudan’s children on the second anniversary of the war

Speaking of Port Sudan, Eva Hends, head of the Victory and Communication Department in UNICEF Sudan, told us a bleak picture of the humanitarian situation, but at the same time, she expressed little hope that the situation could improve the children of Sudan who paid a high price for a war that they were not caused.

The ghost of death is lurking with Zamzam’s children

Hindz told United Nations news that the situation is very difficult in El Fasher and the surrounding areas, especially the Zamzam camp, which had announced the outbreak of famine, where she said: “This is a place where death represents a continuous threat to children, whether due to the fighting around them or because of the collapse of the services they depend on to survive. “

And UNICEF official added other terrible numbers. In North Darfur, nearly 70 children were killed or injured in less than three months, while Zamzam camp alone witnessed 16% of the total confirmed injuries among the children of El -Fasher as a result of bombing and air strikes.

But the threat is not limited to bombing and battles. Because of the closure of access methods and the targeting of armed groups to the villages, the delivery of aid has become almost impossible. As a result, children and their families face a severe shortage of water, food, medicine and food supplies, which led to a crazy rise in prices.

In light of the withdrawal of many organizations, Eva Hindz says that the remaining partners on the ground are making strenuous efforts to confront the specter of starvation and widespread malnutrition, where the number of children with acute malnutrition is estimated at 457,000, of whom 146,000 suffer from the dark type that makes them 11 times more vulnerable.

Intensive efforts to treat malnutrition

Despite this dark image, Hindz emphasizes the unremitting efforts made by UNICEF and its partners on the ground to try to address and prevent malnutrition by providing nutrition tests, distributing nutritional supplements, gathering mothers to speak and share information about young children’s feeding practices.

In addition, ready -made therapeutic foods are provided for use to treat children with severe severe malnutrition. But malnutrition not only threatens the lives of children in the short term, but also leaves deep scar on their future.

On that, Eva Hindz says: “If this continues for a longer period and turns into a chronic thing, it affects their growth … and this can affect their physical growth as well as their cognitive growth.”

Destroyed schools .. and hanging dreams

Away from the specter of hunger and disease, the conflict deprives the children of Sudan of another basic right: education. On that, Eva Hindz says: “Hundreds of schools have been damaged since the beginning of the conflict, and many of them are not used as schools at the present time, and this puts huge pressure on education and the children reaching learning.”

In response, UNICEF works to provide supplies to schools, provide scholarships, and create safe educational spaces in places where school buildings are no longer suitable for use. These spaces not only provide education, but also provide social psychological support for children who have suffered from the scourge of displacement and violence.

UNICEF official says: “It is also a place where they often receive social psychological support … and a place where they can meet friends and play with them … and where they can start feeling some feeling of returning to something of normal life.”

Losing vaccinations … and generations threatened with diseases

Vaccination efforts also face tremendous challenges. The national coverage of vaccinations has decreased from more than 85 percent before the war to 50 percent in some places, and even less in these places besieged by fighting.

Eva Hends said that UNICEF is working closely with the Ministry of Health and other partners to implement compensatory vaccination campaigns and safely connecting vaccines to the needy areas, even those that are difficult to reach.

Lack of financing exacerbates the crisis

But the lack of funding represents an obstacle to all these strenuous efforts. On that, Eva Hindz says: “The worsening cuts in financing not only put our ability, but also the ability of our partners to respond in a great danger … and children will eventually pay the price with their lives.”

Hindz appealed to the international community and donors to provide urgent support to enable humanitarian organizations to continue to provide life -saving services for Sudanese children.

.انيءWe need to work together to fill any critical financing gaps. It is very important during these very difficult times not to manage our backs, and not to give up children when they are in need of us. I believe that Sudan is a major example of the reason for the importance of this, and the reason for our need to stay and provide assistance. “

Among the rubble of war grows hope

Hindz told us about her last visit to Khartoum, where she met a group of boys who had previously met them after their child -friendly space was bombed last August, where she said: “It was great to see that they were improving, and that some of their physical wounds were recovered. Many of them go to school … and they started learning, and they returned to playing football.”

She continued: “I think there are positive signs when we look at children, this can be a child who goes to school, and it can be a child that begins his journey towards recovery. It can be vaccines that reach hard -to -reach places despite all the difficulties. So, I think all this gives hope.”