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UNICEF: More than 1 Million Polio Vaccines Destroyed in Sudan

Smoke billows above buildings behind a mosque during fighting between the forces of two rival Sudanese generals in Khartoum, on May 5, 2023. - (AFP)
Smoke billows above buildings behind a mosque during fighting between the forces of two rival Sudanese generals in Khartoum, on May 5, 2023. - (AFP)
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UNICEF: More than 1 Million Polio Vaccines Destroyed in Sudan

Smoke billows above buildings behind a mosque during fighting between the forces of two rival Sudanese generals in Khartoum, on May 5, 2023. - (AFP)
Smoke billows above buildings behind a mosque during fighting between the forces of two rival Sudanese generals in Khartoum, on May 5, 2023. - (AFP)

More than 1 million polio vaccines intended for children have been destroyed as a result of looting in Sudan during the upsurge in violence since April, the UN children's agency UNICEF told Reuters on Friday.

"A number of cold chain facilities have been looted, damaged and destroyed, including over a million polio vaccines in South Darfur," Hazel De Wet, deputy director of the Office of Emergency Programs, UNICEF told Reuters in an email.

The agency was in the middle of a series of polio vaccination campaigns in Sudan following an outbreak at the end of 2022.

Polio, a disease which mainly affects children under 5, can lead to paralysis and death. Africa was declared free of wild polio in 2020 but Malawi, Mozambique and Sudan have reported imported cases since last year.

A World Health Organization database shows there have been 28 attacks on health care facilities in Sudan since the conflict erupted last month, pitting Sudan's army against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Numerous humanitarian agencies have reported looting during the Sudan crisis including the World Food Program, which said it lost $13-$14 million worth of supplies.

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ICRC to Expand Syria Humanitarian Efforts beyond $100 Mln Program

A logo of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is pictured in Geneva, Switzerland March 29, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
A logo of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is pictured in Geneva, Switzerland March 29, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
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ICRC to Expand Syria Humanitarian Efforts beyond $100 Mln Program

A logo of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is pictured in Geneva, Switzerland March 29, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
A logo of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is pictured in Geneva, Switzerland March 29, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) plans to expand its work in Syria significantly beyond an initial $100 million program, the organization's president said on Monday, citing pressing needs in the health, water and power sectors.
Syria requires $4.07 billion in aid this year, but only 33.1% has been funded, leaving a $2.73 billion gap, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The ICRC's expected expansion follows new access to all regions of the country after the toppling of president Bashar al-Assad last month.
"Our program originally for this year for Syria was $100 million, but we are likely to expand that significantly," ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric told Reuters on the sidelines of a visit to the country.
She said individual donor countries had already come forward with an increase in funding for Syria.
ICRC was one of the few international organizations still operating in Syria under Assad's rule, working on infrastructure projects including water and electricity systems.
"We need to expand that work, we have a lot to do in the health sector," she added.
The organization is engaged in rehabilitation work to sustain water provision at 40% to 50% of what it was before the war, but protection of water facilities remains important as some are close to places where fighting is still under way.
"There are facilities next to the Euphrates Lake that are specific to the protection requirement at the moment," she said.
Initial assessments to begin immediate rehabilitation of Syria’s electricity systems are partly complete, but urgent financial investments and adjustments to sanctions are now required, she added.
"Certain spare parts need to be allowed to come in because that is also hampering the rehabilitation work at the moment. So there's a political dimension to it," she said.
Earlier, people briefed on the matter told Reuters that the US is set to announce an easing of restrictions on providing humanitarian aid and other basic services such as electricity to Syria while maintaining its strict sanctions regime.
On Sunday, Syria's new rulers said US sanctions were an obstacle to the country's rapid recovery and urged Washington to lift them, during a visit by Syrian officials to Qatar.