Sudan doctors: dire need of care for 243+ displaced pregnant women in Darfur, Northen State

The Sudanese Doctors Network has reported the arrival of more than 243 pregnant women at Tawila camp and surrounding camps in North Darfur and Ad Dabba locality in Northern State, noting that some women suffered miscarriages during their displacement. The United Nations states that more than 650,000 people have fled from El Fasher and surrounding areas to Tawila and are in dire need of immediate assistance.

Dr Tasneem El Amin, a spokesperson for the Sudanese Doctors Network, told Radio Dabanga on Wednesday that the network’s working teams documented the arrival of more than 100 pregnant women to Tawila camp and the surrounding camps, and the arrival of 143 pregnant women to Ad Dabba camp, with one birth already recorded inside the camp.

Miscarriages during displacement

She noted that births had also been recorded within the Tawila camp, in addition to miscarriages occurring during the displacement from El Fasher due to the harsh conditions. She confirmed that monitoring operations are ongoing in conjunction with the continued displacement.

El Amin said that the Sudanese Doctors Network confirms that a number of health organisations working in the field are providing emergency medical care to pregnant women, amid increasing challenges for abortionists as a result of long-distance displacement and lack of resources.

Speaking on behalf of the network via Radio Dabanga, he called on international and humanitarian organisations to provide urgent support and enhance health and medical services in those areas. He also called on the responsible authorities to ensure the protection of mothers and provide a safe environment for childbirth, and to reduce the health risks that threaten displaced women and girls under the current circumstances.

Internationally, the United Nations confirmed that hundreds of thousands of displaced people are in dire need of assistance after fleeing El Fasher following the Rapid Support Forces’ takeover of the city and called for additional resources to help care for the displaced.

More than 650,000 displaced people fled to Tawila

The United Nations said that more than 650,000 displaced people in the city of Tawila, after fleeing El Fasher and surrounding areas, are in dire need of immediate and urgent assistance.

The United Nations stressed that it needs more resources so that frontline workers can help displaced people in Sudan quickly and effectively.

Urgent truce

In this context, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called on Wednesday for an urgent three-month ceasefire in Sudan to allow for the delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid to millions of Sudanese suffering as a result of the ongoing war.

During a session in the British Parliament, Cooper pointed to the need for a permanent ceasefire followed by what she described as a serious political process.

The British minister accused the Rapid Support Forces of using starvation and rape as tactics in their war against civilians in El Fasher, North Darfur.

It called on both sides of the conflict to allow the opening of safe corridors for civilians and for medical and relief personnel and warned that Sudan would witness more atrocities unless measures were taken to stop them.