The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) expressed concerns about the grave implications of the Sudanese war on children as it opens new fronts in Sudan.
In his briefing to the council, the Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Omar Abdi, said hundreds of children have already died while approximately 21 million children in Sudan were at risk.
“More than one million children have now been displaced by the fighting, and the UN has received credible reports, under verification, that hundreds of children have been killed and injured,” he said.
He hailed the UN mandate on Children and Armed Conflict for pushing the armed groups to release about 180,000 boys and girls in the past 23 years.
“As the number of countries on the children and armed conflict agenda grows, so too does the number of children in need of our protection and support,” he said while urging for more international support for UN efforts.
The UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, also appealed for a bold and resolute step to be taken to protect boys and girls who are exposed to the risk of death, recruitment, and rape, among other horrors.
“Children were killed or injured in airstrikes, by explosive weapons, by live ammunition, in crossfire, or in indirect attacks. In many cases, they fell victim to explosive remnants of war,” she said.
New fronts
The conflict in Sudan has been gory, with numerous ceasefires that have not left a window for the humanitarian corridor or a halt to the conflict.
El Pais reported yesterday that the war had extended numerous atrocities to Darfur, with much concentration on El-Geneina, leading to an aggravated humanitarian crisis and human rights violations.
Since the war started on April 15, 2023, numerous reports have been released by UNITAMS and other international observers portraying how the implications of the violence had far-reaching negative impacts on Sudanese children and women.
Concerns of possible genocide and other gross human rights violations heightened and are claimed to have been committed in Darfur by the Rapid Support Forces commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
The government forces had also been accused of shelling and aerial bombardments in populated areas in Khartoum and its periphery, which have claimed the lives of innocent civilians.
No Closest help
A number of countries have demonstrated their interest in mediating the conflict in Sudan.
On Monday, Sudanese political, civil, and professional leaders approached President Yoweri Museveni in the State House in Uganda to push for the settlement of the conflict once and for all.
After the meeting, Museveni wrote on his official Twitter handle that he was bound to assist using the AU and IGAD peace and security mechanisms to bring an end to the conflict.
The Jeddah 72-hour ceasefire brokered by the U.S. government and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ended last month, and so far nothing has been heard about its progress.
The IGAD promised to hold a face-to-face meeting with the warring parties to end the deadlock, but the Sudanese government rejected the mediation offer twice on the ground that they did not want Kenyan President William Ruto to be the mediator but President Salva Kiir.
Earlier in the week, the Deputy Chairman of the Sudan Transitional Sovereign Council, Malik Agar, said the Sudanese government had welcomed the mediation process led by the Federal Republic of Russia.
The Russian government pledged support, stressing the need for a Sudanese-owned mediation process. By , The City Review
