Sudan’s El Fasher under siege for 500 days, children ‘starving’: UN

United Nations: Under siege for 500 days, El Fasher city in Sudan’s North Darfur state has become the epicentre of suffering for children, UN humanitarians have said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Wednesday said the already dire situation in North Darfur continues to worsen at an alarming rate.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that malnutrition, disease and violence are claiming young lives every single day in El Fasher, with an estimated 260,000 civilians, half of them children, trapped in the city, cut off from humanitarian assistance for more than 16 months, reports Xinhua news agency.

UNICEF said more than 10,000 children in El Fasher have been treated for severe acute malnutrition since January, nearly double the figure for last year. At least 63 people, mostly women and children, reportedly died of malnutrition in a single week.

UNICEF said that in El Fasher, the Rapid Support Forces militia siege has completely cut off supply lines. Health facilities and mobile nutrition teams have been forced to suspend services as supplies run out and no new supplies can enter, leaving an estimated 6,000 children with severe acute malnutrition without treatment.

OCHA said the malnutrition reports come alongside the spread of cholera in North Darfur.

“We and our partners have scaled up support for the cholera response, including medical supplies and water, sanitation and hygiene assistance, which has helped contain the outbreak,” the office said. “However, new cases are emerging in remote communities where access to health care is limited.”

UNICEF also said that since the start of the El Fasher siege in April 2024, more than 1,100 grave violations have been verified in the city alone, including the killing and maiming of over 1,000 children.

Due to limited access and verification challenges, the number of affected children is almost certainly significantly higher, according to UNICEF.