Millions of people in Sudan are undernourished. If humanitarian agencies do not receive the necessary funding, many civilians will starve. UN human rights chief warns of possibility of mass famine in Sudan Humanitarian assistance
The UN High Representative for Human Rights called for a stop to the escalation of violence in Sudan. He warned that the fighting was having a horrific impact on millions of civilians and that the country was facing widespread famine.
Earlier this week, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk held telephone conversations with representatives of the warring parties in Sudan: the commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who heads the Force fast support.
Turk called on his interlocutors to urgently take measures to de-escalate the situation. Ravina Shamdasani, press secretary of the UN Human Rights Office, told reporters about this. According to her, the High Commissioner has already addressed the generals of the parties to the conflict in Sudan in November 2022. “He warned commanders that fighting in El Fasher, where more than 1.8 million residents and internally displaced people are currently under siege and malnutrition, would have a catastrophic impact on civilians and deepen intercommunal conflict with disastrous humanitarian consequences. “, Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
The High Commissioner, in a conversation with the Sudanese military, reminded them that international humanitarian law obliges them to strictly observe the principles of selectivity during military operations and proportionality, as well as precautions. Turk stated that all those responsible for violations of international law must be brought to justice.
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Sudan: UN chief calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities in El Fasher
As a result of the thirteen-month-long war, half the population Sudan has 25 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, including 14 million children. Millions of people were forced to flee their homes repeatedly, and each time their situation worsened. Various UN agencies have warned many times that the Sudanese are at risk of widespread famine, especially as the rainy season approaches. billion dollars, and donors contributed only 12 percent of this amount. Without an immediate injection of funds, it will be impossible to prevent widespread famine, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned on Friday.
At the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) UN) remind that Sudanese are fleeing to neighboring Uganda, where more than 33 thousand people are already detained, 19 thousand of whom have arrived in Kampala since January. Uganda already hosts the largest number of refugees and asylum seekers in Africa – 1.7 million. On average, 2,500 people enter the country every week, mostly from the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. Despite this, Uganda remains one of the world’s 13 largest underfunded humanitarian operations, UNHCR said.