♦ Sudan: This week’s news in brief ♦

A compact digest of the past week's most-read highlights, from the heart of Sudan. Subscribe to receive this digest weekly in your inbox.

Sudan's health crisis far from over as diseases spread
 
August 26 – 2021 KASSALA / KHARTOUM / SINKAT Sudan's health crisis is far from over as diarrhoea, haemorrhagic fevers, and the general lack of medicines and medical equipment are putting further pressure on a health care system that already suffers greatly under the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, stunting (impaired growth) rates are growing rapidly. Stunting rates in Khartoum reached over 36 per cent, while about 50 per cent of children under the age of five in a number of other states are stunted.

Health Minister Omar El Najeeb announced a national programme to combat stunting, to be launched in Kassala, where about 76 per cent of the children are suffering from malnutrition.

Cases of haemorrhagic fever have been reported in Kassala. In neighbouring Red Sea state, people in Sinkat complain about the spread of diarrhoea.

Journalist Osman Hashim told Radio Dabanga that the area is witnessing a serious medical crisis. The lack of medicines and staff in the Port Sudan Teaching Hospital caused the death of a child on Monday.

Darfur women accuse govt of violating Juba Peace Agreement

August 31 – 2021 KHARTOUM Women who took part in the Juba peace negotiations on the Darfur track accuse the Sudanese government of violating the Juba Peace Agreement that stipulates a 40 per cent women representation in governance.

In a press conference in Khartoum on Sunday, North Darfur Minister of Youth Hikma Ibrahim voiced her criticism concerning the lack of adequate representation of women in government institutions in general, and in peace implementation committees in particular.

No women who took part in the Juba peace negotiations are present in the Peace Parties Committee, the Higher Committee for the Implementation of the Darfur Process, and the Security Arrangements Implementation Committee, formed to implement the Juba Peace Agreement of October 3 last year.

She also denounced the weak representation of women in Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok’s recent initiative The Road Forward.

Sudanese Journalists Network: harassment of journalists as frequent as during Al Bashir era
August 31 – 2021 KHARTOUM The Sudanese Journalists Network publicly condemned “the brutal attack on journalist Mohamed El Mustafa by regular armed forces on Saturday” in a statement …

Call for Sudan to exhume mass graves to identify victims
August 31 – 2021 NEW YORK Sudan is yet to account for hundreds of political dissents forcefully disappeared during the deposed Al Bashir regime and during the 2018-2019 national revolution.

New destruction in Sudan as Nile floods persist
August 30 – 2021 EL GEDAREF / EL GENEINA / SENNAR / ED DAMER  Ongoing rains and high water levels in the Nile basin have left new swathes of destruction in El Gedaref, El Geneina, …

Sudan-Chad border security talks begin in Khartoum
August 30 – 2021 KHARTOUM A round of bilateral talks between the respective transitional governments of Sudan and Chad, ostensibly to discuss security issues and challenges facing …

Girl raped as attacks on Darfur villages persist
August 26 – 2021 TAWILA Gunmen in military uniforms raped an underaged girl an attack on the Kushni area in Tawila, North Darfur, on Tuesday. Other villages in Tawila were also …

Ethiopian UNISFA forces in Sudan to be replaced
August 25 – 2021 KHARTOUM The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday welcomed the positive response of the United Nations to the government’s request to replace the Ethiopian …