According to the United Nations, more than 330,000 people have been internally displaced by fighting in Sudan.
The update comes as UN Secretary General Martin Griffiths visits Sudan today. The organization warns that the current violence is having a devastating impact on the humanitarian situation, reports RTE.
Concerns were also raised about the impact of the crisis on neighboring countries, many of which are struggling to cope with a growing aid emergency.
With fighting between military factions in Sudan now entering its third week, the UN aid chief said his visit will try to find ways to bring aid into the country and distribute it to those who need it most require.
As cities like Khartoum are plagued by ongoing violence, access to safe corridors for humanitarian aid is a priority.
But safety remains the top concern – with many aid organizations operating in the battle between the Sudanese army and competing fast support forces, reports RTE.
A United Nations spokesman said the organization was doing its best to resume humanitarian aid in the country after looting a large number of displaced aid supplies.
Officials have also raised concerns that the instability could spill over into neighboring countries as thousands of refugees continue to leave Sudan to escape the violence.
The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, says millions of vulnerable girls and boys need immediate humanitarian assistance.
UNICEF Sudan’s head of communications and advocacy, Owen Watkins, said children are involved in the conflict.
“They are literally in the middle of the fighting and so they are having physical and psychological impacts of this. Even before this conflict started, the humanitarian situation in Sudan was horrific for children. We have approximately three million children malnourished in Sudan. At the moment, just as the conflict started, we had about 50,000 children in treatment for severe acute malnutrition,” reports RTE.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said, the aid is getting in to Sudan and UNICEF had pre-positioned aid.
“In any event we have a significant operation humanitarian operation in Sudan any way because of the humanitarian situation and so where possible we are using those pre-position supplies to get to children,” reports RTE.
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