By Mazhun Idris
The deadly conflict in Sudan risks being forgotten by the world even as 14 million children need humanitarian aid, UNICEF has warned.
“There are 14 million Sudanese children in need of assistance. That’s one out of every two children in Sudan,” Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Deputy Director for Humanitarian and Supply Operations in Sudan told TRT Afrika.
The conflict which is in its fourth month has ''affected children in unprecedented ways,” Chaiban said after travelling to some of the areas affected.
“This is a terrible crisis that we must do everything to access children and their families during these times of need so that they feel like children again,” he added.
Humanitarian crisis
Sudan has been locked in a catastrophic war for the past three months, after fighting erupted in April between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The violence has left hundreds dead and thousands injured, with a soaring number of Sudanese people forced into humanitarian crisis, in a never before seen scale.
The UNICEF deputy director’s trip took him to Sudan and neighboring Chad as part of a delegation with the UN Deputy Secretary General, where they met with families coming across the border from Sudan, having fled the conflict.
“I've been on a mission to call attention to the situation in Sudan and neighboring countries” said Chaiban.
Humanitarian access
The conflict in Sudan has led to acute shortages of food, water, medicines, and fuel while prices of essential items have skyrocketed.
UNICEF called on the warring parties to respect humanitarian workers and ease off humanitarian access in conflict zones.
“There have been several of our colleagues that have been killed since the beginning of the conflict and that's a tragedy. In the case of UNICEF, two of our staff members lost their children and recently there was an incident in Khartoum where MSF aid workers were beaten,” he said.
