Hunger, disease and displacement threaten to destroy Sudan as war spreads throughout the country, fueling “a humanitarian emergency of epic proportions,” according to Martin Griffiths, U.N. emergency relief coordinator.
“The longer this fighting continues, the more devastating its impact is going to be,” Griffiths warned in a statement issued Friday.
He said the conflict, which has ravaged the capital, Khartoum, and Darfur since April 15, has spread to Kordofan. Food stocks in South Kordofan’s capital, Kadugli, he said, “have been fully depleted, and clashes and road blockages prevent aid workers from reaching the hungry.”
The U.N. humanitarian chief expressed concern about the safety of civilians in Al Jazirah province, the breadbasket of Sudan, as the conflict moved closer to that area.
“Hundreds of thousands of children are already severely malnourished and at imminent risk of death if left untreated,” he said. “Millions more will have their education replaced by the devastating traumas of war, becoming a lost generation.”
Since violence erupted in a power grab between the Sudanese Armed Forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in mid-April, the U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.6 million people have been displaced inside Sudan and nearly 1 million have fled across the border as refugees.
Griffiths warned that many impoverished host communities are struggling, and that “a protracted conflict in Sudan could tip the entire region into a humanitarian catastrophe.”
The World Health Organization has verified that 53 health facilities have been attacked during more than four months of conflict, resulting in 11 deaths and 38 injuries. It said 67% of all main hospitals are out of service, and hospitals that remain fully or partially functional risk closing for lack of medical staff, supplies, water and electricity.
“Services have been discontinued in many areas, including maternal and child health, management of severe acute malnutrition and treatment of patients with noncommunicable diseases,” said Tarik Jasarevic, WHO spokesperson.
He said the onset of the rainy season will increase the risk of outbreaks of water-borne and vector-borne diseases. “There are reports of dengue, measles, acute watery diarrhea, but also cases of severe acute malnutrition” from different states, he said.
Of the 11 million people in need of humanitarian health services, the WHO said, approximately 272,000 are currently pregnant, 30,000 of whom will deliver next month.
“It is expected that 6,000 newborns and 4,500 currently pregnant women may experience some complications,” said Jasarevic. “There is no access to emergency care for newborns and pregnant women, which risks losing more lives.”
UNICEF reported the conflict has uprooted at least 2 million children from their homes, with nearly 14 million in urgent need of humanitarian support. It said many children face multiple threats, including acute hunger, malnutrition, lack of clean water and killer diseases.