UN official: War has brought Sudan into one of modern days worst nightmares
Moatinoon
The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, said in a press release today that the war had brought Sudan into one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history.
Griffiths pointed to continued bloodshed, violence and appalling reports of unstinting cases of rape and sexual violence and increased clashes on ethnic grounds, particularly in Darfur.
Aid workers continued to face obstacles in reaching those in need due to insecurity and restrictions, with at least 45 humanitarian workers killed or detained since mid-April -- almost all of them Sudanese staff.
Even in areas where we have access, humanitarian workers are underfunded, with only 33% of the 2.6 billion needed to help those in need in the Sudan received this year.
The Sudan is also suffering from a cholera outbreak, with more than 1,000 cases suspected in the states of Gedaref, Khartoum and Kordofan.
Basic services are also being collapsed. More than 70% of health-care facilities in out-of-service conflict zones. Fighting is keeping 19 million children out of school, leading to a significant decline in their education and in the countrys future, Martin Griffiths said.
Griffiths warned that this situation could not continue. He stressed the need for the parties to the conflict to fulfil their obligations under international humanitarian law.
The time has come for the parties to fulfil the commitments they made in Jeddah to protect civilians and allow humanitarian access, and to renew their commitment to dialogue at the highest levels to end this conflict forever.
He stressed that it was also time for donors to increase their support, saying: The international community cannot abandon the people of the Sudan.
Today, it has been 6 months since the war in the Sudan -- which erupted on April 15 between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces -- killed 9000 people, displaced more than 5.6 million of their homes and required 25 million humanitarian assistance.
