Children

The crisis in Darfur has been waging on for five years, and one would think that peace and stability would now be on the horizon, however the the situation appears to be getting worse.  As we enter this new year, hope has begun to fade for many, especially the children. Despite efforts to send AID into the region, which has been repeatedly torn apart over the years by genocidal violence, however the level of child malnutrition in the region has increased over the past year.

According to a UN report issued at the close of 2007, the rate of child malnutrition in the region was considerably higher, even with an increased presence of aid workers in the past year. The current aid operation in Darfur is currently the worlds largest, comprised of 13 United Nations agencies and around 80 private aid agencies. The cost of aid in Darfur in 2007 was some one billion US dollars, yet the effects of the relief effort appear to be falling short for Darfur’s children who once again are left to suffer and subcome to the elements derived from the continued violence.

The UN’s report showed 16.1% of children affected by the conflict suffer from acute malnutrition, in comparison to 12.9% a year earlier. This is the first time malnutrition rates have soured above the World Health Organization’s malnutrition “emergency threshold”, which is set at 15%, since 2004, a year following the beginning of the conflict, when it ran at 21.8%. (Child Malnutrition on Rise in Darfur).

“There is a psychological effect here,” said one aid official in Sudan who did not want to be identified because he feared reprisals from the Sudanese government. “These people have been in these camps for years now, and the energy that was around a few years ago and the hopes that this situation might be over soon and people could go home — all that’s gone now. He said that depression could affect how mothers care for their children, and that the overall malaise in the camps would make poor health conditions worse.” (Malnutrition Up in Darfur Despite Aid).

A lack of security, new tribal violence, constant displacement, fear, and attacks on aid workers are just to name a few factors which are adding to the increase in child malnutrition. While there are many reasons that may be hindering the effectiveness of aid, and compounding the situation for children and adults alike.  Nonetheless the fact remains that the people of Darfur can not continue to slip further and further away for our eyes, and therefore increased security and new planning must be made to ensure that people receive their basic human rights. However all of this will continue to fail if the International community does not take stronger action against the government of Sudan and work to find a sustainable solution to bring peace to Darfur, and the entire country of Sudan.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 7th, 2008 at 8:10 pm and is filed under Uncategorized, Blogroll, Foreign Policy Association, Great Decisions Blogs, Children, Children and War, Displaced Persons, Food Crisis or Shortage, Poverty. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.