{"id":15386,"date":"2024-05-13T06:56:38","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T13:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=15386"},"modified":"2024-05-15T07:14:44","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T14:14:44","slug":"countless-lives-at-stake-in-sudans-el-fasher-warn-un-aid-teams-un-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=15386","title":{"rendered":"“Countless lives at stake in Sudan\u2019s El Fasher, warn UN aid teams” UN News"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reports<\/a>\u00a0have been coming in that a hospital in Sudan\u2019s North Darfur has been damaged in a heavy uptick of hostilities, leaving two youngsters dead and fanning renewed famine fears,\u00a0UN aid teams have said<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Children<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u00a9 UNICEF\/Mohamed Zakaria, Children shelter in the shade in Tambasi centre in El Fasher, North Darfur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

13 May, 2024, Peace and Security, Global perspective Human stories, United Nations News<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to UN emergency relief chief Martin Griffiths, a \u201cstrike\u201d damaged the roof of the intensive care unit at Southern Hospital in El Fasher Town \u2013 the only working hospital in North Darfur state \u2013 where\u00a0medical supplies are running dangerously low<\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some 800,000 people live in and around El Fasher Town where \u201ccountless lives are at stake.<\/strong> Sudan is at a tipping point<\/strong>,\u201d Mr. Griffiths said<\/a> in a message on X late Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key city at stake<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In an update on the hostilities, the UN aid coordination office (OCHA<\/a>) reported that dozens of civilians had been killed in renewed heavy fighting last Friday between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Force (RSF) soldiers in and around the city \u2013 the last one in North Darfur not yet under RSF control, it has been reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe clashes, including airstrikes and the use of heavy weapons<\/strong>, started mid-morning in the eastern part of El Fasher Town and continued until 6.30pm,\u201d said OCHA. \u201cThe clashes extended into the centre of the town, the outskirts of the main market and into neighbourhoods, resulting in civilian deaths and injuries<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the latest bloodshed, humanitarians warned that months of escalating violence around El Fasher Town had been behind \u201cpersistent\u201d aid access obstructions that had hampered the sustained flow of aid and basic commodities, \u201cpushing people to the brink of famine\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly 25 million need help<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In Darfur alone, some nine million people need humanitarian assistance today, but a staggering 24.8 million across Sudan \u2013 almost one in two people in the country – now require help from the UN and aid partners<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest assessment of hunger levels across Sudan from late March were already alarming, even before this latest escalation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It revealed that 17.7 million people \u2013 more than one-third of the country\u2019s population \u2013 faced acute food insecurity (IPC3) or worse, with level three indicating \u201cCrisis\u201d and five indicating \u201cFamine\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of these, 4.9 million people \u201care on the brink of famine\u201d, experts at the globally respected Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative warned. \u201cNearly nine out of 10 people in IPC4 are in conflict-affected areas in Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum and Jazirah. With the onset of the lean season from April onwards, food insecurity is expected to further worsen,\u201d their assessment noted.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Millions of lives upended<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to the UN migration agency, IOM<\/a>, about 570,000 people have been displaced in North Darfur state in the last 13 months and 6.7 million have been internally displaced, while 1.8 million have fled across Sudan\u2019s border, UN refugee agency (UNHCR<\/a>) data shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before reports of renewed clashes on Sunday in and around El Fasher Town, OCHA said that large numbers of people had moved from the east and northwest to the south.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Media reports cited the medical director of the El Fasher Town hospital describing that patients were being treated in any available space within the facility, including on balconies. Echoing concerns over damage to medical equipment and supplies, the director indicated that a key supply line to the rest of Sudan had been cut off by the RSF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guterres gravely concerned<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres<\/a> is gravely concerned by the outbreak of fighting in El Fasher, his spokesperson said in a statement<\/a> issued on Monday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Guterres recalled that civilians in the area are already facing a looming famine and the consequences of over a year of war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He reminded the parties of their obligation to protect civilians, urging them to allow people to move to safer areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“He also requests that all parties facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to all civilians in need in El Fasher, across Darfur and the Sudan,” the statement said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population and willfully impeding humanitarian relief for civilians in need may constitute war crimes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Secretary-General appealed to the parties to immediately stop fighting and resume ceasefire negotiations without further delay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reports\u00a0have been coming in that a hospital in Sudan\u2019s North Darfur has been damaged in a heavy uptick of hostilities, leaving two youngsters dead and fanning renewed famine fears,\u00a0UN aid teams have said. \u00a9 UNICEF\/Mohamed Zakaria, Children shelter in the shade in Tambasi centre in El Fasher, North Darfur. 13 May, 2024, Peace and Security, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001004,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15386"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15386"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15389,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15386\/revisions\/15389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}