{"id":20062229,"date":"2023-12-11T17:13:03","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T16:13:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/?p=20062229"},"modified":"2023-12-11T18:39:09","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T17:39:09","slug":"ocha-reports-alarming-number-of-malnutrition-cases-in-sudan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/ocha-reports-alarming-number-of-malnutrition-cases-in-sudan","title":{"rendered":"OCHA reports \u2018alarming number of malnutrition cases\u2019 in Sudan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA) in Sudan has expressed its concern about the rapidly worsening humanitarian situation in the country. A record 25 million people, half of the population, needs humanitarian aid, Sofie Karlsson, head of OCHA Communications and Analysis, told Dabanga Sudan yesterday.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are more than 5,000 cases of cholera recorded in Sudan, Karlsson said. About 70 per cent of the health facilities in the areas of conflict are not functioning. Two-thirds of the population lack access to health services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for food security, she spoke about \u201cstaggering numbers\u201d of hungry people. \u201cBetween 15 to 20 million people are going hungry. There are also alarming numbers of malnutrition cases in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The World Food Programme (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF) together with humanitarian partners are providing food assistance<\/a>, treatment of malnourished people, and seeds for farmers<\/a>, \u201cbut this is not enough,\u201d the UN officer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenges<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur plan this year is to provide assistance to eighteen million Sudanese, but we\u2019re facing three major challenges,\u201d Karlsson explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe first one is access, especially to Khartoum, Darfur, and Kordofan where the fighting is intense, and the needs are high due to a combination of insecurity and bureaucratic impediments humanitarian organisations are facing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSecondly. we’re facing a funding challenge. Our appeal is less than 40 per cent funded. We need more resources to meet everyone’s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThirdly: attention. There is a multitude of crises going on in the world, and the scale and magnitude of what is happening in Sudan is not talked about enough. We need to bring it to the attention of the international community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Completely reliant on aid\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

OCHA reported today<\/a> that \u201conly about 18 per cent of the targeted population has been reached amidst very challenging access constraints in conflict-affected states. The health system is completely reliant on humanitarian aid with continuously emerging gaps resulting from disease outbreaks, financial gaps to support immunization campaigns and lack of medical supplies to support non-communicable diseases such renal failure and need for dialysis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the report, humanitarian organisations require<\/a> $2.6 billion to support 18.1 million people with multi-cluster assistance and protection services until the end of the year, but only $980.5 million (38.2 per cent) has been received as of 27 November.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Wednesday, Dabanga Sudan reported that Central Darfur Muslim cleric and\u00a0social activist Matar Younis\u00a0has launched \u201can urgent humanitarian appeal\u201d to the international community to send aid to the displaced in Darfur \u201cto avoid an imminent famine<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n