'Clear, high rate of malnutrition' across Sudan, MSF says

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00:00Well, the war in Sudan has also triggered what the U.N. has described as the largest

00:04and most devastating displacement, humanitarian and protection crisis in the world today.

00:10Now, for a small preview of the scale, over two thirds of the population are in need of

00:16health, food or other forms of immediate humanitarian support, while millions are facing emergency

00:22levels of food insecurity.

00:24So for more on this humanitarian angle, Jean-Nicolas Armstrong-Dengelser joins us on the program.

00:29He is Doctors Without Borders, head of the Sudan Mission.

00:32Thank you very much for joining us today.

00:35So can you tell us what kind of work Doctors Without Borders is able to carry out in the

00:40capital and in Sudan in general as these hostilities continue?

00:45Yes, as Doctors Without Borders, we are having several activities in hospitals.

00:55We are also in communities through mobile clinics and we are doing also work that is

01:01outside of the medical, strictly the medical lens, also through water and sanitation provisions,

01:08for example, or even food distribution as we really have to have a large scope of activities

01:16with the devastating humanitarian situation that is happening in the country.

01:22I mean, the scale of this crisis, as I said earlier, is huge, unimaginable.

01:28I know it's hard to summarize, but what are your biggest concerns, the most urgent concerns

01:33as far as the humanitarian situation goes?

01:35And then similarly, what are the priorities then?

01:40There is a clear high rate of malnutrition across the country.

01:45We are seeing that in many localities in the capital city Khartoum.

01:51We also see that in large extent of the country in Darfur, in Zamzam camp, for example, where

02:00we had to unfortunately suspend our activities after violence that our team could no longer

02:07stay there.

02:09The health system also completely collapsed in many parts of the country, including Darfur,

02:16Kordofan and the capital city.

02:21So rebuilding that health care system, not just infrastructure, but also reviving it

02:27through having again medical teams on the ground, having again medicine and medical

02:34supplies are of utmost importance.

02:37Jean-Nicolas, are you under the impression that either of these two warring factions,

02:42either the Sudanese military or the paramilitary RSF, is more likely to target humanitarian

02:48organizations or humanitarian operations in general?

02:54We did have a lot of security incidents in areas controlled by rapid support forces,

03:03and it's extremely complicated to work in those areas.

03:08But we also have instances of indiscriminate bombing and shelling by the Sudan armed forces.

03:17So it's extremely complicated in many instances to work and to access the population.

03:24Sometimes it's because of the security situation, but sometimes it's also because of administrative

03:30hurdles that we see or because of governance collapse that we also have a hard time to

03:37access the most vulnerable.

03:39So what impact do you think that these latest developments in the capital will have on the

03:44humanitarian situation?

03:48We do have now access to some areas that we were not able to access before.

03:53So now we have teams that are in Bari, in the north of Khartoum, as well as Shargan

03:59Hill in the east of the capital, which was just under the control of the Sudan armed

04:06forces throughout the months of February.

04:10So we do have an increased access to some very vulnerable populations.

04:15What we also see is that populations are returning to those places where there is nearly no more

04:22public services available and where the health care system is completely collapsed.

04:27So there will be a lot to be done there.

04:31And the need is going to continue to grow as the population will shift again from areas

04:38they previously moved and areas that they are now returning.

04:42So it will increase the needs as well.

04:45Has your work been directly affected by the Trump administration's cuts to USAID?

04:51And if so, you know, on a very concrete level, how has that impacted the work and the

04:56situation that you see there?

04:58So our funding is completely independent.

05:02So as Doctors Without Borders, it didn't impact our funding, but it did directly impact

05:08our work because there is many health care centers, many activities around us that were

05:15run by other organizations that unfortunately had to stop.

05:21We are talking about medical care.

05:23We are talking about some food distribution, about some water supply.

05:29And we unfortunately, we have to step in to a lot of instances to make sure that we are

05:37not fully impacted in our own work.

05:40But obviously, the gap that is left behind by the US funding cuts is immense.

05:48We absolutely don't have the capacity to to be able to to step in fully for that gap.

05:54Jean-Nicolas Armstrong-Dengelzer, thank you very much for coming on the show today.

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