UNICEF warned on Wednesday that after 500 days under siege, the city of El-Fasher in Sudan’s North Darfur has become an epicentre of child suffering, with malnutrition, disease, and violence claiming young lives daily.

In recent months, at least 600,000 people, half of them children, have been displaced from El-Fasher and surrounding camps, with an estimated 260,000 civilians, including 130,000 children, remaining trapped inside the city in desperate conditions, cut off from aid for more than 16 months.

“We are witnessing a devastating tragedy, children in El-Fasher are starving while UNICEF’s lifesaving nutrition services are being blocked,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, adding that blocking aid is a severe rights violation that endangers children, while calling for immediate, full access via expanded ceasefires to reach all those in need and emphasizing that children must be protected and have access to life-saving assistance.

Over 1000 children maimed

UNICEF reported that since the siege began in April 2024, more than 1,100 grave violations against children have been confirmed in El-Fasher alone, including the killing and maiming of over 1,000 children. Many of these children, it added, were struck in their homes or public spaces.

The UN organization reported that at least 23 children were subject to horrific violations, emphasizing that the numbers could be higher due to the limited access and verification challenges.

This week, as reports emerged of another mass casualty event, with seven children reportedly killed in an attack on Abu Shouk Internal Displacement camp, located on the outskirts of El-Fasher.

RSF siege cuts off medical supplies, malnutrition grips El-Fasher

Due to the RSF siege severing all supply lines into El-Fasher, which has forced the suspension of health and nutrition services as supplies run out, an estimated 6,000 severely malnourished children are without treatment and now face a drastically higher risk of death, UNICEF stated.

Thousands of malnourished children have been deprived of treatment due to continued attacks on health and education facilities, with 35 hospitals and 6 schools struck. This includes the El-Fasher Saudi Maternal Teaching Hospital, which was hit more than ten times, killing and injuring many, including children, and after the shelling destroyed the therapeutic health centre at Abu Shouk camp in January.

Meanwhile, acute malnutrition is spreading rapidly, and although more than 10,000 children in El-Fasher have been treated for severe acute malnutrition since January, the suspension of services due to depleted supplies has led to recent reports that at least 63 people, mostly women and children, died of malnutrition in a single week.

The situation in the wider region is also concerning, as in July, Mellit locality, which is hosting many displaced from El-Fasher, recorded an Acute Malnutrition rate of 34.2%, a record high since the conflict broke out in April 2023 in Sudan.

UNICEF concluded by calling on all parties to ensure safe, unimpeded humanitarian access across Sudan. This requires an immediate ceasefire, permission to deliver life-saving supplies like food and medicine, and the protection of civilians and infrastructure. It added that the re-establishment of UN operations in the most critical areas is essential to prevent further loss of life.