17-23 August Sudan News Summary: Malnutrition, violence, and cholera

26 Aug

Arabic news roundup

By William Greenwood

Save the Children said on Saturday that 34% of children in Mellit, North Darfur, suffer from acute malnutrition, according to the results of a survey it conducted last month.
Aid trucks in Mellit, which is under the control of the Rapid Support Forces, were bombed on Thursday, with both sides trading accusations of launching the attack.
The international relief organisation said in a statement that thousands of children under the age of five in the locality are at risk of serious illness and death.
"This is the worst malnutrition rate I have ever seen," said Edith Mutteri, the organisation's health and nutrition technical advisor, adding that ”communities across Sudan are suffering from alarming levels of malnutrition. Acute malnutrition rates exceeding 15% indicate a food emergency, let alone rates exceeding 30%."

Military sources reported the outbreak of clashes between the Sudanese army and the RSF, south of El Fasher, following the United Nations' announcement that approximately 90 people were killed in the past few days alone.
The UN announced that at least 89 people were killed in 10 days in attacks attributed to the Rapid Support Forces on the besieged city of El Fasher and the adjacent Abu Shouk camp.
The World Health Organization warned that El Fasher is experiencing a "severe humanitarian and health crisis" due to armed conflict, blockade, and displacement.
WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier noted that civilians are facing severe food shortages, increasing deaths from malnutrition, and a severe lack of access to health services.

By Samuel Hunt

At least 46 people, mostly women and children, have died from malnutrition in Sudan’s South Kordofan state over the past two months, Sudan’s Doctors Network said Saturday, as the war-torn region faces worsening hunger and medical shortages.
The network said its teams “monitored 46 deaths in South Kordofan due to malnutrition during July and August, most of them women and children” adding that “more than 19,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women are in urgent need of supplementary nutrition.”
The group condemned the use of starvation as a weapon of war, calling it “a crime against humanity and a war crime under international law,” while highlighting the dire humanitarian situation in the cities of Kadugli and Dilling.

The cholera epidemic in Sudan has now officially reached all of its 18 states.
With over 1,500 cases reported in the last week, there have now been over 100,000 confirmed infections since August 2024.

Bill Greenwood