Deep funding cuts are pushing a generation of children in Sudan to the brink of irreversible harm, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday, as humanitarian support is scaled back and malnutrition persists across the country.
The crisis comes amid what UN agencies describe as one of the worst funding shortfalls in decades, worsened by decisions from the United States and other donors to slash foreign aid budgets.
"Children have limited access to safe water, food, healthcare. Malnutrition is rife, and many good children are reduced to just skin, bones," said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF’s Representative in Sudan, speaking via video link from Port Sudan.
Sudan’s conflict, now in its second year, pits the army against the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and has displaced millions. The fighting has fragmented the country, with RSF forces still entrenched in large parts of western Sudan.
In July, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned that several areas south of the capital Khartoum were at risk of famine.
According to UNICEF, funding cuts are shutting children out of life-saving services, even as humanitarian needs grow rapidly.
"With recent funding cuts, many of our partners in Khartoum and elsewhere have been forced to scale back... We are being stretched to the limit across Sudan, with children dying of hunger," Yett said.
"We on the verge of irreversible damage being done to an entire generation of children in Sudan."
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said only 23% of the $4.16 billion global humanitarian response plan for Sudan has been funded.
UNICEF added that access to areas in need remains limited, with the rainy season rendering some roads impassable and key zones, such as Al-Fashir, still under siege.
"It has been one year since famine was confirmed in ZamZam camp and no food has reached this area. Al-Fashir remains under siege. We need that access now," said Jens Laerke of OCHA.
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U.S. has become a central outside power in the south caucasus, shaping diplomacy, security and energy flows. Its relations with Azerbaijan and Armenia have evolved from similar beginnings into two distinct partnerships that now define Washington’s role in the region.
Iran would retaliate by striking U.S. military bases across the Middle East if it comes under attack by American forces, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday (7 January), stressing that such action should not be seen as targeting the countries hosting those bases.
France and Canada opened new consulates in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, on Friday, stepping up their Arctic presence in a show of support for Denmark, a NATO ally, amid renewed demands by U.S. President Donald Trump to acquire the strategically located territory.
Russia launched a large-scale overnight attack on Ukraine’s energy system early on Saturday (7 January), hitting power generation and distribution facilities with more than 400 drones and around 40 missiles, Ukrainian officials have said.
Winter weather has brought air travel in the German capital to a complete halt, stranding thousands of passengers as severe icing conditions make runways and aircraft unsafe for operation and force authorities to shut down one of Europe’s key transport hubs.
Storm Leonardo hit Spain and Portugal on Tuesday, forcing more than 11,000 people from their homes, as a man in Portugal died after his car was swept away by floodwaters and a second body was found in Malaga.
An attacker opened fire at the gates of a Shiite Muslim mosque in Islamabad on Friday before detonating a suicide bomb that killed at least 31 people in the deadliest assault of its kind in the capital in more than a decade.
Iran and the United States opened nuclear talks in Oman on Friday, with Tehran calling the meeting a good start and both sides agreeing to continue discussions after returning to their capitals for consultations.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for the 6th of February, covering the latest developments you need to know.
France and Canada opened new consulates in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, on Friday, stepping up their Arctic presence in a show of support for Denmark, a NATO ally, amid renewed demands by U.S. President Donald Trump to acquire the strategically located territory.
Russia launched a large-scale overnight attack on Ukraine’s energy system early on Saturday (7 January), hitting power generation and distribution facilities with more than 400 drones and around 40 missiles, Ukrainian officials have said.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for the 7th of February, covering the latest developments you need to know.
U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators have discussed an ambitious goal of reaching a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine by March, though the timeline is widely viewed as unrealistic due to deep disagreements over territory, according to multiple sources familiar with the talks.
At least 31 people have been killed and scores wounded in a suicide bombing at a mosque in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, during Friday prayers, prompting widespread international condemnation.
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