15-21 June Sudan News Summary: Cuts to women’s support programmes, cholera and escalating hostilities
Arabic news roundup
By William Greenwood
Warnings of risks of closing women's support programs due to funding shortfalls in Sudan
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) announced on Friday that funding shortfalls are forcing it to close several programs supporting women and girls in Sudan.
In a statement, UNFPA confirmed that it continues to provide reproductive health and protection services, but recent funding cuts have forced it to withdraw from more than half of the 93 health facilities it supports.
UNFPA currently supports 63 safe havens that provide shelter, psychosocial support, and referrals for medical care to victims of gender-based violence, while only one in four centers providing clinical care for rape victims is fully operational.
UNFPA quoted a gender-based violence specialist in Sudan as saying, "The scale and brutality of the violations exceed anything we have seen before."
From: Sudan Tribune
Cholera: Widespread outbreak in North Kordofan and South Darfur, but lessening in Khartoum
The Ministry of Health in North Kordofan State revealed the admission of 102 new cholera cases to the isolation center at El Obeid Hospital on Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases there to 259.
South Darfur State is witnessing an alarming increase in cholera cases, with the state's Ministry of Health recording five new cases in Nyala, distributed between Nyala North and South
Medical sources revealed that three cholera cases have been recorded in the Kalma camp for internally displaced persons in South Darfur, including one death.
Khartoum State announced a decline in cholera infection rates, with 60 cases and one death recorded on Wednesday.
Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, said that the outbreak of diseases has severely impacted Sudan's children, noting that since the cholera outbreak in the country last July, the Federal Ministry of Health has reported approximately 7,300 infections and more than 200 deaths among children under the age of five.
From: Dabanga
United Nations warns of 'escalating hostilities' in central and western Sudan
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned on Friday of the "grave consequences of the ongoing and escalating hostilities" in central and western Sudan, citing violent attacks that have resulted in civilian casualties.
Türk said in a statement that the fighting across North Darfur and Kordofan and the "grave risk of a further escalation of the brutal and deadly conflict raise serious protection concerns, amid a culture of impunity for human rights violations."
From: Al-Quds Al-Arabi
English news roundup
By Samuel Hunt
UN fact-finding mission finds that the war is intensifying with devastating consequences for civilians
The Fact-Finding Mission presented its latest findings to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on the 17th June. It said that humanitarian relief is being weaponised, and hospitals and medical facilities are under siege. [OCHR]
“Let us be clear: the conflict in Sudan is far from over,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, chair of the Fact-Finding Mission. “The scale of human suffering continues to deepen. The fragmentation of governance, the militarisation of society, and the involvement of foreign actors are fuelling an ever-deadlier crisis.” [Al Jazeera English]
UN warns of starvation in hunger hotspots such as Sudan
A report by the WFP and the FAO warns that extreme hunger will intensify in 13 global hotspots, with five states, including Sudan, at immediate risk of starvation. [Al Jazeera English]
“This report makes it very clear: hunger today is not a distant threat - it is a daily emergency for millions. We must act now and act together to save lives and safeguard livelihoods,” said FAO Director General QU Dongyu. [UN]
The World Food Programme's Leni Kinzli explains what it’s like to deliver food aid to Sudan, describing how negotiating with different militias, coming up with scarce funds, and sourcing the food is far from easy. [Devex]
The UN special rapporteur on the right to food calls for aid convoys to be protected by UN peacekeepers
Michael Fakhri, the UN’s special rapporteur on the right to food, has called for UN aid convoys to be protected by peacekeepers as starvation is increasingly used as a weapon of war in places like Sudan, and convoys are routinely targeted. [The Guardian]
“I’m calling for the UN general assembly to authorise peacekeepers to accompany humanitarian convoys,” Mr Fakhri said.
