The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), a UN agency dedicated to promoting and protecting the rights of children, on Friday condemned the looting of humanitarian supplies from Al Bashair Hospital in Jabal Awlia in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.
UNICEF said in a press release that the supplies were intended to support malnourished children and provide critical healthcare to mothers and newborns.
“The Al Bashair Hospital is one of the last functioning medical facilities in Jabal Awlia. UNICEF had managed to deliver these critical supplies on 20 December 2024, marking the first successful humanitarian shipment to Jabal Awlia in over 18 months,” the statement reads in part. “The looting of these supplies will compound an already dire humanitarian catastrophe for children and families in the area.”
UNICEF reiterated the call for an unimpeded humanitarian access to children and families in need and called for the protection of hospitals and other civilian infrastructure in line with international humanitarian law.
On South Sudan, the agency talked of an update on the intensive diplomacy that is underway in the country.
It said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Nicholas Haysom, was working with international and regional partners, including heads of state and the African Union, to try and de-escalate tensions and stop the aerial bombardment of civilian areas in Upper Nile State, which could spill over into wider conflict.
Haysom was reportedly also engaging with influential national partners to promote a peaceful resolution, stressing that the already troubled region cannot afford another war.