Sudan: Hundreds of thousands who fled Khartoum warfare & airstrikes are now facing it in Wad Madani

#Sudan: “This is a terrible turn of events. Hundreds of thousands of people who fled from urban warfare and airstrikes in Khartoum are now facing this all again in a place they thought was safe.” @WillCarter_NRC to @guardianhttps://t.co/xFUQfNkBDg

— NRC East Africa and Yemen (@NRC_EAY) December 18, 2023

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Thousands flee Wad Madani, Sudan's second city, to escape fighting

Click here to view the above report at The Guardian online

Written by Zeinab Mohammed Salih in Khartoum 

Dated Saturday, 16 December 2023 17.58 GMT - excerpt:

In Djibouti last weekend the two warring sides committed to pursuing a ceasefire under the Intergovernmental Authority on Development’s facilitation, an east African political body, but the army on Thursday bombed the city of Neyala, the capital of South Darfur state, killing many people, among them several civilians. Neyala is now being controlled by the RSF after intense fighting that lasted for months. Three other major states have fallen under the RSF, leaving only North Darfur under the army control.

Several aid organisations have suspended their work in Madani, which had become a hub for humanitarian work after war broke out in Khartoum, following the latest developments.

“We have paused our work in Wad Madani while conflict has erupted there, we will resume as soon as possible,” said William Carter, the country director of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

“The numbers of people displaced are already in their thousands, and likely to grow as the fighting continues. We’ve dispatched emergency response teams to areas that people are fleeing to, such as Sennar and Gedaref states.

“This is a terrible turn of events. Hundreds of thousands of people who fled from urban warfare and airstrikes in Khartoum are now facing this all again in a place they thought was safe.”

A boy displaced by the conflict in Wad Madani walks with his belongings on 16 December. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

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Over 100 dead from cholera, dengue in Sudan

Report from Medical X press - medicalxpress.com 

By AFP

Dated Sunday, 29 October 2023 - here is a copy in full:

Over 100 dead from cholera, dengue in war-torn Sudan

Scanning electron microscope image of Vibrio cholerae. Credit: Wikipedia

Outbreaks of cholera and dengue fever in war-torn Sudan have left more than 100 people dead since August, the health ministry said on Saturday.

A total of 1,049 cases of cholera, 73 of them fatal, were recorded in Khartoum, Al-Jazira state to its south and Gedaref state to the its west, the ministry said.

Khartoum has been one of the main battlegrounds in the fighting between rival generals that has gripped the country since April.

Hundreds of thousands of residents of greater Khartoum have fled to calmer areas of Gedaref and Al-Jazira, overwhelming the supply of clean water.

Nine Sudanese states have recorded cases of mosquito-borne dengue, with 49 deaths from a total of 3,316 cases, the ministry said.

Gedaref state, which borders Ethiopia, reported 2,152 of the cases and 33 of the deaths.

Even before the fighting broke out in April, Sudan's health care system struggled to contain the disease outbreaks that accompany the country's rainy season which begins in June.

Now—with hospitals bombed, medicines running low and many doctors fleeing the country—the health care system has been pushed to the brink.

The health ministry report said 70 percent of hospitals in war-torn areas are out of service.

© 2023 AFP

View original:  https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-10-dead-cholera-dengue-war-torn-sudan.html

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War and hunger could destroy Sudan -UN aid chief

Statement by UN aid chief Martin Griffiths
Published by United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) - unocha.org
Dated Friday 25 August 2023 - here is a full copy:

War and hunger could destroy Sudan - Statement by Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator [EN/AR]

(New York, 25 August 2023): The war in Sudan is fueling a humanitarian emergency of epic proportions. This viral conflict – and the hunger, disease and displacement left in its wake – now threatens to consume the entire country.

The intense fighting that has ravaged the capital Khartoum and Darfur since mid-April has spread to Kordofan. In South Kordofan’s capital, Kadugli, food stocks have been fully depleted, as clashes and road blockages prevent aid workers from reaching the hungry. In West Kordofan’s capital, El Fula, humanitarian offices have been ransacked and supplies looted. I am also extremely worried about the safety of civilians in Al Jazira State, as the conflict moves closer to Sudan’s breadbasket.

The longer the fighting continues, the more devastating its impact. Some places have already run out of food. Hundreds of thousands of children are severely malnourished and at imminent risk of death if left untreated.

Vector-borne diseases are spreading, posing a lethal risk, especially to those already weakened by malnutrition. Cases of measles, malaria, whooping cough, dengue fever, and acute watery diarrhoea are being reported across the country. Most people have no access to medical treatment. The conflict has decimated the health care sector, with most hospitals out of service.

Millions of people have been displaced inside Sudan. Nearly one million others have fled across its borders. As more refugees arrive in neighbouring countries, host communities are struggling. A protracted conflict in Sudan could tip the entire region into a humanitarian catastrophe.

A long conflict will almost certainly lead to a lost generation of children as millions miss out on education, endure trauma, and bear the physical and psychological scars of war. Reports that some children in Sudan are being used in the fighting are deeply disturbing.

It is well past time for all those fighting in this conflict to put the people of Sudan above the pursuit of power or resources. Humanity must prevail. Civilians need life-saving assistance now; humanitarians need access and funding to deliver it. The international community needs to respond with the urgency this crisis deserves.

25 August 2023

Download attachment (PDF | 138.42 KB | English version)

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View original: https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/sudan/war-and-hunger-could-destroy-sudan-statement-martin-griffiths-under-secretary-general-humanitarian-affairs-and-emergency-relief-coordinator-enar

Martin Griffiths is a British diplomat who currently serves as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator at the United Nations. -Wikipedia

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