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Today's top news: Sudan, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ukraine, Haiti [1]
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Date: 2024-04
Sudan
OCHA warns that any potential assault on El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State in Sudan, would have a devastating impact on the 800,000 civilians in the city.
Escalating tensions and clashes over the last two weeks have already resulted in the displacement of 40,000 people, as well as a number of civilian casualties.
Internally displaced people are particularly at risk, including those in Zamzam camp, where there have been alarming reports of acute hunger and malnutrition in recent months.
The security situation has effectively cut off humanitarian access to El Fasher. The city also serves as an important point to reach other parts of Darfur, including for aid shipments through the Tine crossing from Chad and via a northern route from Port Sudan. Currently, more than a dozen trucks with lifesaving supplies for 122,000 people are stranded in Ad Dabbah in neighbouring Northern State, as they cannot move onward to El Fasher due to insecurity and lack of guarantees for safe passage.
We strongly urge the parties to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law. Attacks directed against civilians, acts intended to spread terror among the civilian population, and sexual violence are strictly prohibited.
The parties must take constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects in the conduct of military operations. They must, to the extent possible, avoid locating military installations within or near densely populated areas, including towns and camps for internally displaced people.
It is also imperative that the parties allow safe passage for civilians to leave El Fasher for safer areas.
Occupied Palestinian Territory
OCHA warns that Rafah's sanitation crisis will only worsen as the weather warms up in the coming weeks. Rafah temperatures have already reached 40 degrees Celsius - where more than a million people are sheltering.
UNRWA reports that most families in Rafah do not even have tents – with many living under sheets of scrap plastic, doing whatever they can to survive. Meanwhile, the agency says people in Rafah are living in absolute fear of what may happen tomorrow.
Sigrid Kaag, Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza told the Security Council earlier this week that an Israeli operation in Rafah would compound an ongoing humanitarian crisis.
OCHA today reiterated that all parties to the conflict must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law – including by taking constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects. This includes allowing civilians to leave for safer areas – and allowing them to return as soon as circumstances allow. But regardless of whether they move or stay, civilians must be protected – and they must receive the essentials they need to survive: food, shelter, health care, and other critical support.
Ukraine
Turning to Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs today facilitated a humanitarian convoy to support nearly 2,000 residents of front-line communities in Kherson Region, in the south of the country. This is the fifth convoy to the region this year.
The UN and our partners delivered a charging station, hygiene items and solar lamps to Beryslav, one of the communities most affected by hostilities on the southern front, where electricity, gas and water supply have been disrupted due to attacks.
Meanwhile, the front-line regions of Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson continue to be affected by ongoing attacks, resulting in civilian casualties, including children, and damage to civilian infrastructure. Today and yesterday, local authorities reported dozens of casualties in these regions, as well as damage to homes and civilian infrastructure.
Haiti
Armed violence continues across Haiti, with Port-au-Prince and Ouest Department particularly impacted.
In the capital, armed groups looted and vandalized the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy on 21 April. OCHA stresses that targeting education infrastructure violates humanitarian norms and jeopardizes the well-being of communities already facing enormous challenges.
The situation remains also volatile in Port-au-Prince port, with the Varreux fuel terminal now closed after several gang attacks. However, our humanitarian colleagues tell us that in the past three weeks, more than 100 humanitarian containers were retrieved at the Caribbean Port Service.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian response continues despite the tense situation. The World Food Programme has provided its daily food assistance to displaced people in Port-au-Prince, but also across other departments.
On the health front, the World Health Organization and UNICEF set up mobile clinics in displacements sites to provide medical consultations.
UNICEF, the International Organization for Migration and their partners continue to distribute drinking water. As of 1 March, they have delivered 6.5 million liters across 29 sites.
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[1] Url:
https://www.unocha.org/news/todays-top-news-sudan-occupied-palestinian-territory-ukraine-haiti
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