“I lost my child. I was not able to treat him, and I do not know what happened to him. He had been suffering from diarrhea for days. I was told that he fell ill from hunger. He died a few days ago when he was not more than 24 months old. Our situation is very difficult. The Janjaweed have surrounded the place and we have nothing to eat. My neighbors also lost Their children will die for the same reason, and in this case, the rest will also die.”
With those words and in a very exhausted voice, Khadija Abdullah narrated to Al Jazeera Net her tragedy in the Zamzam camp for displaced persons in North Darfur state, western Sudan. The camp records the highest numbers of hunger and has been classified as one of the areas facing the risk of famine in Sudan. However, its residents face daily a torrent of shells fired by support forces. Quickly, whoever escaped death from starvation was killed by bombing and under demolished houses.
Children and mothers in Sudan are severely affected by the repercussions of the devastating war, and the lives, education and future of a generation of children are at stake.
In addition to the direct impact of violence on children, the ongoing war has fueled a deadly mix of displacement, disease outbreaks and hunger.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) expects that about 4 million children under the age of five will suffer from acute malnutrition this year, including 730,000 children who are expected to suffer from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition.
Constant fighting
Half of the children suffering from severe acute malnutrition live in areas that are difficult to reach due to ongoing fighting, making their conditions even more dangerous.
The activist in Zamzam camp, Alawiyah Muhammad, confirmed to Al Jazeera Net that between 3 and 4 children died every day as a result of malnutrition in the camp, despite the World Food Program providing therapeutic nutrition biscuits, but it was not enough to cover all the injured. She also indicated that 10 children died during the ongoing bombing operations on the camp. From quick support this week.
The activist also talks about the appearance of birth defects among newborns, but she was unable to give an explanation regarding its possible causes, without ruling out that mothers are affected by incendiary bombs thrown around them.
She points out that children are born with cleft lip, some of whom later face the inability to walk and talk, and some of whom also show signs of Down syndrome.
Alawiya added, “Dozens of mothers have lost their children to malnutrition. Many families do not have enough to support themselves and have no sources of income. In addition to the siege imposed on them, as well as high prices and lack of cash, all of these are factors that make life difficult for families, and thus the children are affected.”
The spokesman for the Coordination of Refugee and Displaced Persons’ Camps in Darfur, Adam Rijal, estimates the number of children who died of malnutrition at about two thousand children.
In his interview with Al Jazeera Net, Rijal pointed out the difficulty of reaching decisive numbers in light of the continuing fighting and constant bombing of the camps, and pointed out that the difficult conditions inside the camps, the continuation of fighting, and the forced displacement have produced unmistakable psychological effects among children, and a large number of them appear introverted, absent-minded, and afraid of voices. The high.
UNICEF says that Sudan has become the largest child displacement crisis in the world, with more than 4 million children forced to leave their homes since April 2023, including about one million children who crossed into neighboring countries.
In southern Khartoum, where the Rapid Support Forces control most of the areas, the spokesman for the South Belt Emergency Room, Muhammad Kindsha, told Al Jazeera Net that large numbers of children died under the bombing, indicating a widespread outbreak of diseases among children, especially malnutrition.
400 thousand cases of malnutrition
A statement issued by the Chamber stated this week that cases of malnutrition among children recorded a remarkable increase, as the cases were transferred to Bashaer Hospital.
According to the statement, the number of malnutrition cases during the past two months reached 400,000 cases.
The only operating hospital in the region receives between 160 and 200 cases daily, and the number of child deaths reached 12 during the previous month, according to the emergency room statement.
Many shelter centers in northern Sudan are crowded with hundreds of children who were displaced with their families, fleeing the fighting in Khartoum and Gezira State. In these crowded centers, it is impossible to obtain adequate food, while diseases are widespread and necessary medicines are lacking.
Nutritionist Faten Al-Kazem told Al-Jazeera Net that the war resulted in a tragic reality that affected millions of families who were forced to flee and seek refuge, leading to the interruption of livelihoods and a significant rise in food prices.
She added, “Food shortages have led to an increase in acute malnutrition rates among children and pregnant and breastfeeding women.”
According to Faten, the cessation of nutrition programs led to the death of many children and the elderly due to hunger and nutrition-related diseases. It also indicates that relief organizations face great difficulties in delivering aid to those in need due to insecurity.
Psychological trauma
Al-Kadhim confirms that the Sudanese were exposed to severe psychological trauma as a result of the war and faced the violations that accompanied the fighting, but she points out that the greatest impact was on children, especially those who lost their families, witnessed violent events with their own eyes, or were exposed to physical or verbal violence.
It believes that accelerating a ceasefire and allowing unrestricted access to humanitarian aid can contribute to addressing the tragic conditions of families while strengthening international support to provide food, medicine and health care.
According to social worker Thuraya Ibrahim, the psychological effects on children begin to appear while moving from an unsafe place towards displacement centers, as feelings of fear, anxiety, distraction and hunger increase, especially among children who suffer from chronic diseases, as their psychological problems and behavioral disorders multiply when they move. Reaching a safe point, these problems appear in tantrums, nervousness, and bedwetting.
Soraya points out that the presence of children in shelters deprives them of privacy and their sense of discomfort increases, thus increasing behavioral and psychological disorders, while the discomfort creates a kind of instability.