UNICEF director on Sudan, donation cuts and Gaza

(CBS, KYMA) - Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF, spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about Sudan.

According to Brennan, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for a "cessation of hostilities," saying the U.S. is pushing for a humanitarian truce to allow some organization to operate in Sudan.

However, Secretary Rubio said the aid convoys have been hit on their way into the country, prompting Brennan to ask Russell what challenges she's facing, to which Russell said:

"Sudan is, at this moment, the largest humanitarian crisis we're facing. And there are many things happening there. One is that children, in particular, but people are on the move. Millions of people are moving around the country. We have hunger, extreme hunger, including famine designated in certain parts of the country. We're also seeing just horrific levels of violence...including rape, including against children. UNICEF did a report about that about a year ago, even children under the age of one. Absolutely terrible stories. And a woman I met in Chad who had fled Darfur told me about the effort to sort of rape women in front of their families and their communities, really trying to terrorize them and videotaping it to humiliate them. And so the levels of violence are horrific. We have children out of school. So the bottom line here is that the needs are enormous. The challenges are just absolutely staggering. And I think the world needs to come together. You know, in the short term, for sure, we need better humanitarian access. We need to reach all of these communities,  that's hard to do right now. But the truth is Margaret that what I heard from children across Sudan was the same thing, which is, I would say to them, you know, what do you think about? What do you want? And they all said the same thing, which is, we want peace. I think they understand that the only answer here, really, is to solve the political problems so that people can get back to some sort of a decent life."

During the interview, Brennan and Russell talked about the Trump Administration cutting some donation funds, including a "$142 million claw back of congressionally approved funds," with Rubio saying no one died from the aid cuts, and said he was proud of the changes made in foreign aid.

When asked what the reality is of the funding cuts, Russell said:

"The funding cuts are challenging. And I think the issue to understand is it's not just the United States. It's almost every donor to...certainly to UNICEF, but to the UN system broadly, and to the humanitarian sector. And so when you add all of those together, the impacts are really dramatic, because it means that you know what- what financial support we do get, we have to spread now over more places, and with less support from- from donor countries. So I think you know there are, certainly, you know, there have been and will probably always be catastrophes that we're trying to deal with, and children are suffering. The United States has always proudly led, I think, on humanitarian response and on helping children. And, you know, we're hopeful that some of the money that has been taken back will be restored to us. We continue to work with the State Department. There are efforts to fund a lot of the humanitarian and sort of life saving work that we do. But really, you know, the needs around the world are just absolutely enormous, and it's the United States and other donors who have to come in behind that, along with the private sector, I have to add that that is also important."

Brennan then asked Russell how things are improving in Gaza, and Russell said:

"I would say, thanks to the ceasefire and the administration here was critical on doing that, things have gotten a bit better. We are able to move around better. But, you know, there's tremendous misery. The challenges remain. We have a lot of work that needs to get done. I mean, you've seen all of the images, the destruction. You know, we still have serious level- levels of malnutrition. We are trying to get shelter in place. You know, there's rain and just misery for children all around. So I think, you know, I would say there definitely is progress with the ceasefire. God willing that holds, and then we can continue to get more and more aid in there."

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Russell, click here.