12 August 2024 

Peace and Security

An attack on a UN facility for displaced people in Sudan has left two dead and at least eight others injured, humanitarians have reported.

Condemning the incident at the weekend, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, said that the youngsters had been playing football when a shell struck its “child-friendly space” in Al Hattana, in Khartoum state.

UNICEF Representative in Sudan, Sheldon Yett, said that Saturday’s attack underlined “the ongoing violence against children” in a war that has already claimed thousands of young lives. He called for an end to the violence and attacks on critical public infrastructure in a statement posted online.

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Ceasefire calls

Fifteen months into the war in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the rival Rapid Support Forces, international efforts are continuing to broker a ceasefire, in line with Sunday’s call from the UN Secretary-General to the warring parties to reach a negotiated settlement.

Because of the ongoing fighting, an estimated 10.7 million people have been displaced within Sudan and a further 2.1 million have sought refuge in neighbouring countries.

The fighting has also precipitated an acute hunger crisis, with almost 26 million struggling to secure daily meals.

Famine alert

Last week, UN humanitarians warned that famine has been confirmed in Zamzam displacement camp in Sudan’s North Darfur. There are also growing concerns that people in other camps nearby may be in the same situation, a senior official with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) told UN News.

In a related development on Sunday, the United States Special Envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello, announced that he intended to travel to Geneva to launch Swiss and Saudi-supported efforts “to end the crisis in Sudan”.

Mr. Perriello said in a statement on X that “in addition to consultations with the [warring] parties, we have heard from tens of thousands of civilians inside and outside of Sudan. Their message is clear: they want an end to the daily terror of shelling, starvation, and sieges”.