UN says Sudan's El-Obeid 'massive disaster'

The Sudanese flashpoint of El-Obeid and surrounding areas are experiencing a spike in malnutrition, gender-based violence and other issues, the United Nations' children's agency said on Friday.UN says Sudan's El-Obeid 'massive disaster'It said the conflict was "a massive disaster that keeps getting worse".Now in Khartoum after visiting the area around the city, UNICEF's Sudan chief Sheldon Yett told AFP in an interview that the rising price of basic necessities and limited access to clean water were causing the uptick in malnutrition."People are getting sicker and not able to absorb nutrients," he said.The war between Sudan's regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces that erupted in April 2023 has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.Following a days-long advance across North Kordofan state, the army managed on Sunday to push the RSF west, off the highway that connects the capital Khartoum with El-Obeid."Many of the people are fleeing from El-Obeid... Those people who are able to leave are doing so. Many people are coming towards Khartoum," Yett said."What we're seeing now is... supplies are able to get in" but "it remains a very precarious access. The main highway is constantly under attack," he added.After visiting El-Obeid two months ago, Yett returned to its surrounding area between July 12 and 18.He said he was concerned about the ongoing cholera outbreak in Kordofan, warning that with large displacements "you have the risk of even greater outbreaks of this disease".- 'Getting worse by the day' -Without greater humanitarian aid, Yett feared there would be a "deterioration of an already severe nutrition situation" and a "deterioration of health care"."It's a massive disaster that keeps getting worse by the day."He said that during his recent visit, he was "struck by how massive the needs are compared to the response".Yett said the scale of the Sudan crisis was "shocking", with hundreds of thousands of people displaced, host communities under pressure and too few humanitarian actors on the ground."There are massive protection needs. We're seeing a huge upsurge of gender-based violence. We're seeing a huge upsurge of rape... Children being recruited by militia groups," he added.Now in its fourth year, the war has killed tens of thousands of people and forced more than 11 million from their homes, creating what the UN describes as the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.Yett condemned the lack of attention paid to the conflict in Sudan."This is an emergency that is growing by the day. And unless we give it the attention it deserves, it's going to continue to grow," he said."It's going to continue to ripple across borders, into Europe and into other countries."apo/amj/gilThis article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.