‘Malnutrition spreading in Darfur’: UN

Emergency directors of the United Nations (UN) agencies have described the situation in Darfur as “seriously deteriorating”.“The number of displaced people has been growing at high rates, along with the spread of malnutrition in many parts of the region.” “About 500,000 children have suffered cases of acute malnutrition”, the Head of the UN’s Executive Committee of Emergency Directors told the press during a news conference in Khartoum on Tuesday. “30 percent of them is unable to be studied because of the armed conflicts in Darfur, together with tribal violence, which have displaced about 100,000 people.” The head announced that “6.1 million Sudanese are in need of food aid. People have appealed to the team of emergency directors to intervene and put an end to the conflict. The crisis in the region requires peaceful solutions.” The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) reported this month that a total of 380,000 people have been newly displaced in Darfur last year, more than any single year since the height of the conflict in 2004. File photo: A woman with her malnourished child in a clinic in Abu Shouk camp, North Darfur (Albert González Farran / Unamid) Related: WFP rations reach 4,300 newly displaced in South Darfur (12 March 2014) Darfur conflicts displace 100,000 in one week (12 March 2014) UN-chief considers ‘hard decisions’ for Darfur peace mission (7 March 2014)