Displaced Zam Zam face harsh conditions

Around 1200 newly displaced families in Zam Zam camp in East Jebel Marra and another 500 newly displaced families from Shawa area are facing harsh living conditions; no humanitarian aid and no sheets or blankets during the cold winter days in Darfur. A camp activist from Zam Zam camp told Radio Dabanga on Friday, 28 December, that his family is without food or non-food aid, despite promises made by organizations to provide emergency support immediately after completing the registration process. He stressed that despite the crisis the families are facing; new displaced families are arriving daily from East Jebel Marra. The activist appealed to humanitarian organizations and other responsible parties to speed up the registration of the newly displaced persons and to urgently provide food and non-food aid.”Immediate intervention”Activists told Radio Dabanga that the newly arrived displaced who lost everything in recent attacks on their villages are forced to dig trenches for shelter for themselves and their children and to cover it with a sheet from the cold at night. The children do not stop crying at night due to the intense cold and the cover hardly protects them. The activist explained that the situation has led to an increased spread of diseases such as bronchitis, among children in particular. At the same time, the camp was already suffering from a lack of potable water and insufficient healthcare facilities and with the increasing population, the needs continue to grow. He appealed to UNICED and other organizations for an immediate intervention to provide non-food humanitarian aid such as blankets and sheets for the tens of thousands displaced in need at Zam Zam camp.