Web Review
L’Osservatorio monitors the web and other information sources daily to provide in-depth news on the impact of contemporary armed conflicts on civilians.
8 August 2025
More than 640,000 children in North Darfur are threatened by cholera. The scenario is worsened by famine and the collapse of the health care infrastructure.
Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative in Sudan, warned: “Despite being preventable and easily treatable, cholera is ripping through Tawila and elsewhere in Darfur, threatening children’s lives, especially the youngest and most vulnerable". More than 1,180 cholera cases, including an estimated 300 among children and at least 20 deaths, have been reported in Tawila. In this town, located in North Darfur, over half a million people are seeking refuge after fleeing violence.
The civil war that erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (“Hemedti”), is not only the cause of political instability and economic hardship, but has also triggered a critical humanitarian crisis. The conflict has decimated vital infrastructure and has forced thousands to flee. In Tawila, many health facilities, including hospitals, have been bombed or shut down, making it difficult to assist patients affected by the disease. Children, whose bodies are weakened by hunger, are more prone to contracting cholera and dying from it.
Moreover, limited access to clean water, poor sanitation and overcrowded camps have created ideal conditions for cholera to spread. Sudan is extremely vulnerable to climate shocks, which often cause a devastating sequence of droughts followed by catastrophic floods. These conditions have further escalated the crisis, forcing families to face the deadly combination of hunger, disease, environmental and infrastructural collapse.
UNICEF is urgently calling for safe and unrestrained humanitarian access, since the supply of humanitarian aid - such as vaccines, therapeutic food and medical kits - has been disrupted by bureaucratic delays, looted aid convoys and active fighting. To support long-term containment, UNICEF plans to deliver more than 1.4 million doses of oral cholera vaccine and strengthen treatment centres.
Di Sonia Iovine
To read more, please visit:
https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/08/1165562
https://www.ispionline.it/en/publication/sudan-and-the-danger-of-a-trans-regional-conflict-207351
