In Sudan, 1,200 children have died in refugee camps in four months, warns the UN

This is a terrible toll. More than 1,200 children under the age of 5 have died from measles and malnutrition in nine refugee camps in Sudan since May, the UN warned on Tuesday September 19. Tens of thousands more could die by the end of the year, the organization warns. “Due to continued attacks on health and nutrition services” in Sudan, UNICEF fears in particular “that several thousand newborns do not die by the end of the year”.

According to the UN agency, nutrition services are “devastated” in the country, where a bloody conflict between rival generals broke out in April. “Every month, 55,000 children must be treated for the deadliest form of malnutrition. Yet in Khartoum, fewer than one in 50 nutrition centers are functioning, and in West Darfur, it is one in 10”, declared a spokesperson for Unicef. The victims are refugees from Ethiopia and South Sudan, according to the UN.

“The world has the means and the money to prevent every one of these deaths linked to measles or malnutrition”underlined the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi. “And yet dozens of children die every day as a result of this devastating conflict and a lack of attention from the international community.”