The UN children’s agency warned on Friday of a potential catastrophic loss of lives in Sudan as the civil war worsens hunger and called for a massive mobilisation of resources.
Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has been fighting Sudan’s army for control of the country in a war that has killed thousands, displaced millions of people inside and outside the country and sparked warnings of famine.
“The brutal war in Sudan is pushing the country towards a famine and unless there is sufficient political will, attention and resources put towards the response now, we are looking at a potential catastrophic loss of lives,” Jill Lawler, chief of field operations and emergency for Unicef in Sudan, said at a UN briefing in Geneva.She was part of the first UN mission back to the capital Khartoum since fighting between the army and the RSF began there in April 2023.
The 12-person team found malnourished children living in pitch black hospitals because their generators had failed, she said.