---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Wed, Nov 21, 2012 at 8:23 PM Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Video: "A Hidden Hunger: Life in the Caves of the Nuba Mountains" To: Group <[email protected]>
Press Release from Nuba Reports - Video Feature Sudan "A Hidden Hunger: Life in the Caves of the Nuba Mountains" Video and report Link: http://www.nubareports.org//reports/hidden-hunger-life-caves-nuba-mountains Nuba Mountains, South Kordofan, Sudan - Conflict in this border region has forced thousands of families to flee their homes and seek shelter in the rocky folds of the nearby Nuba Mountains, where they are surviving off of leaves and roots with no food aid in sight. In a new report from citizen journalist group, Nuba Reports, which operates in South Kordofan, displaced Nubans speak of the struggle to keep their families alive. "They come and kill the children, hit us with bombs," Marriam Teia, whose husband was killed in the fighting, says of Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) in the new video from Nuba Reports. "They leave us without water to make food for the children. Nothing to be given to the elderly mother and father. It is so painful." As fighting between the Sudan People's Liberation Army-North (SPLA-N) and Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) increases and the Sudan government continues scorched earth tactics across South Kordofan, citizens of the region are forced into hiding. Abandoning farms, livestock, and goods, their new home offers little: foul water, no crops, and diminishing hope. Nuba Reports' new video, "A Hidden Hunger: Life in the Caves of the Nuba Mountains <http://www.nubareports.org//reports/hidden-hunger-life-caves-nuba-mountains> ," exposes a population on the verge of starvation. Abdu Rhaman told Nuba Reports that of his five children, three died of hunger. "No one was sick," he said of family and friends who have died. "They were just hungry." The Sudan government denies accusations that it blocks aid to the SPLA-N controlled areas of South Kordofan. But Amor Almagro, a spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP) told the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in October that despite such claims, "access has not been granted for us to carry out an assessment and deliver much needed food assistance…" The Sudan government continues to use starvation as a method of warfare. Since the August signing of the Tripartite Humanitarian Agreement, which promised the flow of food aid into South Kordofan and Blue Nile state, hungry populations have waited in vain. An assessment team from an independent NGO found that 81.5 percent of households in South Kordofan are surviving on one meal per day - up from zero percent two years prior, according to the survey published by Enough Project <http://enoughproject.org/reports/rapid-food-security-and-nutrition-assessment-south-kordofan>. The NGO requested anonymity since the Sudanese government has banned humanitarian access to the region. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates the number of affected people in South Kordofan and Blue Nile at more than 900,000 <http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/19/us-sudan-fighting-idUSBRE89I13V20121019> . Malnutrition among children is soaring and families are forced to choose between the security of the caves but with looming starvation or make the dangerous journey to a refugee camp in Yida, South Sudan. More than 65,000 people have already made that trek and Yida camp <http://www.nubareports.org/reports/number-refugees-grows-65000> suffers its own food shortages, overcrowding and disease risks. Meanwhile, residents suffer. Marriam Teia, talking to Nuba Reports, pointed to a bag of grain near the doorway of her home, a small inlet in the caves of the Nuba mountains. "This is the last sack for the kids," she told Nuba Reports. When it runs out, she said, there will be nothing left. Contact Ryan Boyette <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected], Trevor Snapp <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected], or Lauren Clark <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] END _____________________ John Ashworth Sudan, South Sudan Advisor [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +211 919 695 362 (South Sudan mobile) +27 82 050 1235 (South Africa mobile) +44 750 304 1790 (UK/international) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" group. 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