KHARTOUM, June 28 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Wednesday announced that it urgently requires 22 million U.S. dollars to provide lifesaving response for over 100,000 children in Sudan.
"As of mid-June, the Humanitarian Action for Children is only funded at 33 percent including only 14 percent for refugees," said UNICEF in a press release Wednesday.
"Over the last few months, Sudan has faced multiple emergencies with the rapid spread of suspected cases of acute watery diarrhea across 12 of its 18 states, a significant influx of South Sudanese refugees, and high rates of malnutrition, especially in the Jebel Marra area of Central Darfur," it noted.
"The growing influx of refugees from South Sudan and over 2.3 million internally displaced people increase the burden on the already stretched resources of host communities. Children continue to be the hardest hit and immediate and sustained support is crucial to provide them with timely and lifesaving humanitarian response, especially in the water, sanitation, health and nutrition sectors," UNICEF Sudan Representative, Abdullah Fadil, said in the release.
Over 16,600 cases of acute watery diarrhea in the past 10 months alone were reported, with 317 deaths, a rate double higher than the alert level, according to UNICEF.
