Sudan: Guterres calls for a ceasefire of a minimum of three days

He General secretary The United Nations called on Thursday for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Sudan for a minimum of three days.

The ceasefire would coincide with the Feast of the End of Fasting this Friday, the end of the Ramadan celebration, and would allow civilians trapped in conflict zones to flee and seek medical assistance, food and other essential supplies. .

During a brief meeting with the press, and after finishing a meeting convened by the African Union, the United Nations, the League of Arab States and other international actors, António Guterres highlighted the strong consensus during the meeting “in condemning the ongoing fighting and request the cessation of hostilities”.

“Hundreds of people have been killed and injured. Fighting in urban areas is particularly dangerous for civilians, including children, who repeatedly they were forced to take refuge in schools and evacuate hospitals amid gunfire. This is completely outrageous,” he said.

Guterres stressed the need to end attacks against humanitarian workers and expressed concern about the situation of United Nations personnel in the African country.

The UN head said he will continue to use his good offices, in coordination with his partners, to achieve a ceasefire, reduce tensions and start political talks.

Asked how he can achieve a ceasefire after two failed attempts, Guterres He highlighted a compelling reason: that the opposing parties are Muslims.

“We are living in a very important moment in the Muslim calendar. I think the time is right for a ceasefire to take place. This ceasefire is absolutely crucial at the present time. We have been in contact with the parties, we believe that it is possible, but the whole world must be united in pressing for the ceasefire to take place effectively”.

Nine children killed and fifty wounded

For her part, the executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) expressed his concern on Thursday about the recent deaths of children in Sudan and the fate of minors affected by the increase in hostilities in the African nation.

Catherine Russell recalled that five days of intense hostilities and several failed ceasefire attempts resulted in a devastating number of child victims. She also stressed that, if the violence does not stop, the number will continue to increase.

After the start of the fighting on Saturday, Russell estimated the number of children killed at nine and the number of wounded at fifty, and indicated that hostilities continue in the country’s capital, Khartoum, and in other locations such as Darfur and North Kordofan.

“Many families are caught in the crossfire, with little or no access to electricity, terrified of the fighting and the possibility of running out of food, water and medicine. Thousands of families have been forced to leave their homes in search of safety,” she detailed.

To these difficulties, the head of UNICEF added that she had received information “of refugee children in schools and care centers while the fighting rages around them, of children’s hospitals forced to evacuate as the bombardments approach, and of hospitals, centers health facilities and other critical infrastructure damaged or destroyed, limiting access to essential and vital care and medicines.”

The fighting also interrupted care services for some 50,000 children who suffer from severe acute malnutrition and require continuous care 24 hours a day.

“The fighting also jeopardizes the cold chain in Sudan, which includes more than $40 million worth of vaccines and insulin, due to power outages and the inability to refuel generators,” Russell said. .

Closure of multiple health centers

Focusing on this last section, the general director of the World Health Organization (WHO) indicated that the information about military personnel occupying health facilities “is deeply worrying.”

After calculating that the total number of dead is already over 330 people and the number of injured is close to 3,200, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pointed out that “the lack of access to safe places, electricity, food, water, personnel and dwindling medical supplies prevent many healthcare facilities from working at the precise moment when there are thousands of wounded who need urgent attention”.

The head of the health agency urged all parties to heed the call for a humanitarian pause so that people caught up in the fighting can seek refuge, civilians have access to food, water and medicine, and patients can receive the health care they need. they need.

Conflict can bring millions more hungry

The outbreak of violence in Sudan could lead to millions more being condemned to starvation, said today the World Food Program (WFP) that last Sunday temporarily suspended food and monetary assistance operations, in a country where a third of the population has difficulty getting enough food.

WFP reported that its guest houses, offices and warehouses in Nyala, South Darfur, were invaded and looted, with the loss of some 4,000 metric tons of food intended to feed hungry people.

The United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS), run by the UN agency on behalf of the international community, remains completely disrupted.

UNHAS flies annually to more than 30 destinations in Sudan, carrying around 26,000 passengers and light humanitarian cargo. An aircraft was damaged beyond repair at Khartoum international airport, and at least ten vehicles and six food trucks were stolen.

Before the conflict broke out on April 15, Sudan already had a record number of hungry people. In 2023, WFP planned to help more than 7.6 million people. Ongoing fighting prevents the distribution of emergency food, the delivery of school meals to children, or the prevention and treatment of malnutrition.