Escalating violence in the Sudanese state of South Kordofan has displaced over 60,000 people in recent days. Half of them are children who are at risk of being separated from their families, traumatised and abused. Separated children are particularly vulnerable to sexual and physical abuse and to being recruited into the armed conflict.
Thursday 16 June 2011
“We are desperately worried about children displaced by fighting. We are racing against time to deliver support to children before the rains," said Amin El Fadil, Save the Children’s Country Director in Sudan.
Air strikes
Residents of South Kordofan have fled their homes amid air strikes, gunfire, burning and looting. Most of the air and land routes to South Kordofan state remain blocked, limiting humanitarian access to children and families. There are concerns that fighting between the Sudan armed forces and the Sudan Liberation Army in north Sudan will continue to spread.
The new wave of displaced children and their families follows conflict last month in the Abyei area that forced around 70,000 people to flee their homes, and on top of an existing humanitarian crisis in South Sudan. In recent months, an influx of people has returned from the north of the country to the south, ahead of the expected declaration of independence in July.
On the ground
“We urgently need safe humanitarian access to South Kordofan in order to reach as many vulnerable children as possible,” said Amin El Fadil, Save the Children Country Director. “Save the Children is on the ground responding to children’s needs across northern and southern Sudan, and we’re preparing to scale up our response to the current crisis. We are calling on all parties involved in the fighting to respect peace agreements and safeguard the interests of children and families.”
Save the Children is providing children in Sudan with urgently needed nutrition and healthcare.
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