"Perfect storm" looms for catastrophic loss of life in Sudan: UN

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The lethal combination of hunger, displacement and disease outbreaks in Sudan is creating "a perfect storm" for a catastrophic loss of lives, UN humanitarians warned on Thursday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said it sounded the alarm about a devastating cost to human life if the international community fails to act by providing aid funding.

"To fight hunger in the country, the World Food Programme (WFP) is rushing to reach people in the grip of famine," OCHA said.

However, the office said that without consistent humanitarian access it will be impossible to meet growing needs.

OCHA said WFP is working around the clock to reach 8.4 million people by the end of the year. So far, the agency has assisted more than 5 million people, including 1.2 million in the western Darfur region.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reports moving life-saving nutrition supplies to treat 215,000 severely malnourished children in Sudan. The agency and its partners also provided 6.6 million children and their families with safe drinking water this year, when disease outbreaks -- including cholera -- are worsening.

UNICEF said children account for about half of the more than 10 million people who have fled their homes since the conflict in Sudan erupted last year.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reports that 2 million of the displaced crossed into neighboring countries, where it is delivering urgent support.

UNHCR said it is working to provide critical protection services and life-saving assistance, including psychosocial support for survivors of gender-based violence, child protection, and helping move the vast numbers of new arrivals away from border areas to safer locations in the countries of asylum.

"Unfortunately, these efforts are severely hampered by the lack of funding, as well as flooding and insecurity," OCHA said. "Eighty-six partners are mobilized to provide support through this year's 1.5 billion U.S. dollar plan to support the regional refugee response in seven neighboring countries, but the appeal is less than a quarter funded, with only 347 million dollars received."

The office said that in addition to humanitarian aid, development investments are significant in neighboring countries, which are already stretched, and crucial to support host communities.

Meanwhile, the response inside Sudan is less than half funded, with the 2024 appeal receiving just 1.3 billion U.S. dollars of the 2.7 billion needed to reach 14.7 million people in the country through the end of the year.

Next Wednesday, OCHA said, the agency and UNHCR plan to host a meeting of representatives of the world body and UN member countries on the sidelines of the General Assembly's annual VIP-rich General Debate to discuss the spiraling crisis in the Sudan region. ■