United Nations, Sep 20
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.
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, news agency reported.
"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 neighbouring 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.