UN: Sudanese children 'hostage' to warring parties

The medical needs of 165,000 Sudanese children are being held "hostage" by the warring parties in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, a senior United Nations official said on Thursday. Those children "are not accessing basic health services, including vaccination against measles and polio", Martin Mogwanja, deputy executive director for operations at the U.N. children's fund (UNICEF), told reporters after a four-day visit to Sudan. The youngsters are in rebel-held parts of the two states, where the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North began an uprising in 2011 fueled by complaints of political and economic neglect. "It is not right for the different forces in conflict in those areas to hold these children as hostage, to hold their future as a hostage for the completion of a political process," Mogwanja said. His appeal is the latest by the U.N., which had brokered a November ceasefire between the two sides in order to carry out a polio vaccination campaign in the rebel-held zones as part of a nationwide effort. But the warring parties would still not let aid workers in, and U.N. humanitarian operations director John Ging earlier blamed a "filibuster" by both the government and rebels. If the campaign were to go ahead, it would be the first aid access into SPLM-N areas from within Sudan since 2011. A broader internationally-backed plan to get food and other assistance to the rebel zone fell through more than a year ago despite months of talks with the rebels and with the government.