The Sudanese states of Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum and Al Jazeera are virtually cut off from humanitarian and medical assistance due to ongoing fighting. Sudan: 800 thousand people in El Fasher cut off from humanitarian and medical assistance, WHO warns Peace and security
The threat of mass famine remains in Sudan, where 800 thousand people in the capital of North Darfur, El Fasher, are left without sufficient food, water and medical care due to fighting. This was announced on Tuesday from the World Health Organization (WHO).
WHO representative in Sudan Shibli Sahbani said heavy fighting had made access to El Fasher impossible. Meanwhile, the parties to the conflict continue to negotiate in Geneva.
Protection of civilians
“States of Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum and Al Jazeera are virtually cut off from humanitarian and medical assistance due to ongoing fighting,” a WHO spokesman told reporters in Geneva. He called on the warring parties to ensure the protection of civilians, humanitarian organizations and public infrastructure, including hospitals, and to immediately allow access “so that a health disaster can be averted.”
Existing stocks of medical supplies have been distributed to several hospitals in El Fasher, but the needs are much greater, the WHO spokesman said. He said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) was continuing to negotiate with the parties to allow the movement of aid trucks where possible.
Read also:
UN agencies: Sudan faces famine of unprecedented proportions
Sahbani added that Sudanese refugees in neighbouring Chad told him during his visit that “the main reason they left Sudan now is hunger.” He reported that a woman fleeing Darfur said that all her food and other sources of food had been seized by militants, and that she had been forced to walk for three days with her children to find safety – without food the entire journey.
The WHO representative also warned that humanitarian operations in Sudan are only being funded at 26 percent of what is needed, and the situation there is “one of the worst in the world.”
Geneva Talks
Humanitarian access and the protection of civilians have become the main topics of UN-sponsored talks between representatives of the warring parties – the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Intervention Force. The process began in Geneva last week under the leadership of the UN Secretary-General’s envoy for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra.
UN Geneva spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci told reporters that both delegations were involved in the talks. She said Lamamra and his team had met with each delegation separately several times over the weekend.