Musings From Abroad

Over 700,000 Sudanese children at risk of worst form of malnutrition— UNICEF

Published

9 months ago

February 11, 2024

According to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), tens of thousands of Sudanese children may perish from the worst form of malnutrition, which is expected to affect around 700,000 children this year.

James Elder, spokesperson for UNICEF, told a press conference in Geneva that “the consequences of the past 300 days mean that more than 700,000 children are likely to suffer from the deadliest form of malnutrition this year.”

“UNICEF won’t be able to treat more than 300,000 of those without improved access and without additional support. In that case, tens of thousands would likely die.”

Barely a week ago, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned that it was getting reports of famine-related deaths in Sudan and that the number of hungry people had doubled in the previous year due to the cutoff of civilian relief by the conflict.

Millions of people have been displaced both inside and outside of Sudan during the course of a 10-month conflict between the government and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has destroyed the nation’s infrastructure and sparked famine warnings.

Severe acute malnutrition, according to Elder, is the most harmful type of malnutrition since it increases a child’s risk of dying from illnesses like cholera and malaria by ten times. According to his projections, 3.5 million youngsters would experience acute malnutrition.

UNICEF provides “ready-to-use therapeutic food,” or RUTF, a life-saving food item that treats severe wasting in children under five years old, to Sudan.

In order to assist the little over 7.5 million children in Sudan, UNICEF is requesting $840 million this year; nevertheless, Elder bemoaned the paucity of money raised in prior appeals.

“Despite the magnitude of needs, last year the funding UNICEF sought for nearly three-quarters of children in Sudan was not forthcoming,” Elder said.

Related Topics:Featured Sudan Sudanese children UNICEF

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Musings From Abroad

Finnish court imprisons Nigeria’s Simon Ekpa for aiding terrorism

Published

13 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Simon Ekpa, a Nigerian separatist leader based abroad, has been placed under detention by the Päijät Häme District Court in Finland on suspicion of inciting others to commit acts of terrorism.

According to the local daily, Helsingin Sanomat, the court rendered the ruling on Thursday following his arraignment by the Central Criminal Police for his involvement in the terror attacks that have afflicted the southeast area of Nigeria.

“The police suspect that the man has promoted his efforts from Finland with means that have led to violence against civilians in the region of South-Eastern Nigeria,” stated Otto Hiltunen, the crime commissioner and investigation head.

“The man has carried out his activity, among other things, on his social media channels.”

Hiltunen also informed the court that the police suspected four additional individuals in Finland of funding Ekpa’s activities.

According to the story, Ekpa is of Nigerian descent and was born in the Finnish city of Lahti.

His offence occurred between August 23, 2021, and November 18, 2024, according to court documents cited in the publication.

Ekpa is not the only person the police have arrested. In February 2023, they caught him at a private Lahtian flat, but he was freed the same day.

Through the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement, Ekpa has continued to be outspoken on social media, raising money and agitating for a Biafran nation to secede. In the southeast part of Nigeria, both factions have been involved in acts of violence, murders, and maimings.

Since gaining formal independence in 1960, Nigeria has seen the emergence of several separatist organisations. The latest surge of calls for self-determination among different ethnic groups has been louder under its immediate previous President Muhammadu Buhari.

Musings From Abroad

Malian singer Rokia Traore arrested in Italy, to be sent to Belgium

Published

1 day ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

After Italy’s top court denied her appeal, well-known Malian singer, Rokia Traore, who was detained in Rome in June due to a global child custody dispute, will be sent over to Belgium in the next few days, her attorney announced on Wednesday.

The 50-year-old Traore is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR and one of Africa’s most well-known vocalists.

“Rokia suffered an injustice. She was arrested without the Belgian criminal court hearing her voice. Now, the battle for Rokia’s rights moves to Brussels,” lawyer Maddalena Del Re said in a statement to Reuters.

The attorney also stated that in its decision late Tuesday, Italy’s Court of Cassation upheld an extradition decision from the European Court of Justice.

Under a European arrest order, Traore was taken into custody on June 20 at the Fiumicino airport in Rome. In October 2023, she was given a two-year prison sentence in Belgium related to a dispute over her daughter’s custody.

She had flown to perform outside Rome’s Colosseum, and she has been imprisoned in Civitavecchia, close to the Italian city, since her detention at Fiumicino.

Lawyer Del Re said that because a conviction was rendered without the defendant’s presence, the Belgian process goes against both international norms and Italian constitutional standards.

After she disregarded a court order to turn over her baby to her Belgian father, the singer’s divorced ex-partner, she was initially taken into custody in France in 2020 on a Belgian arrest warrant.

She disobeyed orders not to leave France until her extradition case was handled by taking a private jet to Mali months after being conditionally released. Mali is where her daughter resides.