FROM THE FIELD: Crisis in Kassala FROM THE FIELD: Crisis in Kassala

January 3, 2020 by United Nations Leave a Comment

Relatives wait outside a hospital in Kassala, Sudan, where their 28-year-old sister is being treated for dengue fever. Like many Sudanese, due to the economic crisis, they struggle to pay for the treatment.

OCHA/Saviano Abreu Relatives wait outside a hospital in Kassala, Sudan, where their 28-year-old sister is being treated for dengue fever. Like many Sudanese, due to the economic crisis, they struggle to pay for the treatment.

This article is brought to you in association with the United Nations.

An economic crisis in Sudan which has driven up food prices in the African country has contributed to an increase in the number of people needing aid; that’s according to the UN’s humanitarian affairs agency, OCHA. Some 9.3 million people, nearly a quarter of the population, are expected to need humanitarian assistance in 2020, up from some 8.5 million this year. In Kassala state, in the east of the country, more than 400,000 people suffer crisis levels of food insecurity and many cannot afford to buy the medicines they need when they fall ill. The UN’s humanitarian chief, Mark Lowcock, visited Kassala in November and called on the international community to provide more aid, more quickly. Read more here about how the people of Kassala are facing up to economic hardships.

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