By Anjali Sharma
UNITED NATIONS – UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan Clementine Nkweta-Salami on Thursday warned that civilians taken refuge in Zamzam displacement camp in the North Darfur region are now “nearly impossible” to reach.
Clementine Nkweta-Salami said “I am deeply worried about reports of destruction of homes and livelihoods in North Darfur,”.
“Civilians continue to pay the price. Access to Zamzam camp is nearly impossible, just when people need support the most. We need unimpeded humanitarian access to deliver life-saving aid.”
Zamzam camp is 15 kilometres south of El Fasher town, the capital of North Darfur, which has been besieged by militia forces opposing the Government in Khartoum for months.
It opened in 2004 to shelter people uprooted by the war in the west of Sudan.
WFP reported that children were already dying in the camp and that thousands could starve in the coming weeks, after it was forced to pause aid distribution amid heavy shelling.
The Government’s Sudanese Armed Forces have been fighting the former allies- turned-adversaries, the Rapid Support Forces militia, since 15 April 2023 when a planned transition to civilian rule broke down.
The RSF controls virtually all of Darfur but has been laying siege to the city of El Fasher for months, close to Zamzam, OCHA reported.
RSF militia stormed the camp on 11 February resulted in clashes with army troops and allied forces, according to news reports.
Local news reports stated that another attack on civilians that have been a feature of the Sudan conflict, dozens of mainly Muslims were believed to have been killed in North Darfur’s Abu Shouk camp after an attack on a busy market there, credited to the RSF.
Media reported shelling on the camp on Sunday resulted in 6 dead
UN Security Council expressed grave concern over the signing of a charter by Sudan’s opposition forces seeking to establish a parallel governing authority in Sudan.
UNSC members said “The members of the Security Council underscored that such actions risk exacerbating the ongoing conflict in Sudan, fragmenting the country, and worsening an already dire humanitarian situation”.
Some 2 million people in 27 locations across Sudan are experiencing famine or on the brink of it.
The Sudanese army controls northern and eastern regions, while the militia and their allies hold sway in much of the Darfurs in the west and parts of the south.
UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, announced on Thursday that $22 million is to be allocated to support lifesaving humanitarian aid in Sudan.
The funds will be released from the Central Emergency Response Fund, CERF, to offer assistance to counter the impact of the spiraling conflict, hunger, disease and climate shocks, he said.
UNICEF warned that infants as young as one year old were being raped by armed forces.
Over 220 cases of child rape have been reported since the start of 2024, the UN agency said.
It cited data from teams helping victims of gender-based violence.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said “Children as young as one being raped by armed men should shock anyone to their core and compel immediate action.”
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