The clashes that erupted in Sudan in mid-April have already left more than 400 dead and more than 3,500 injured, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
Some “413 people died and 3,551 people were injured,” WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said at a regular news conference in Geneva.
For his part, a Unicef spokesman, James Elder, who also attended the briefing, stated that “at least 9 children were killed in the fighting and more than 50 children were injured”.
“Unfortunately, as long as the fighting continues, we know that the children will pay the price,” he added.
He also said life-saving supplies to around 50,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition were “cut off” ahead of the clashes.
“The lives of these children are threatened,” he said.
As a result of the fighting, many families are trapped with little or no access to electricity, water, food and medicine.
Sudan has one of the highest rates of child malnutrition in the world, with – before the recent clashes – more than 600,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, according to Unicef.
Mr. Elder pointed out that the fighting is also threatening the country’s cold chain, “including more than $40 million worth of vaccines and insulin, due to power outages and the inability to refuel the generators.”
Unicef has also received reports of refugee children in schools and health centers as fighting rages around them and children’s hospitals have to be evacuated as the shelling draws closer. According to the UN agency, hospitals, health centers and other important infrastructure were damaged or destroyed.
Even before the escalation of violence in Sudan, the humanitarian needs of Sudanese children were very high, with three quarters of them living in extreme poverty, according to UNICEF estimates.
Seven million children did not go to school.
“Humanitarian assistance is of course essential, but UNICEF and its partners cannot provide that support without ensuring the safety of staff,” said Mr. Elder.
Violent clashes between the regular army and paramilitaries continued on Friday despite multiple calls for a ceasefire to mark the holiday of Eid al-Fitr, the end of the holy month of Ramadan.