UNICEF director on humanitarian crisis in Sudan

(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation on Sunday about her recent trip to Sudan and what she learned when visiting.

"I learned that it is a catastrophic situation for children there and there are compounding crises. First, it's the largest displacement crisis for children around the world. So many millions of children have moved either from their homes to neighboring countries like South Sudan, Egypt, or Chad, many millions are moved inside Sudan to other places in the city trying to- or in the country trying to find some refuge. It’s also a huge challenge in terms of malnutrition, we have 4 million children who are severely malnourished, almost more than half a million of those children are severely acutely malnourished, which means that they really are on the verge of starvation. And then shockingly, almost every child in Sudan has been out of school for the last year, which is incredibly destabilizing for them for their future and certainly for the country as well."

Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF

During the interview, Brennan and Russell talked about the the U.S. intelligence community highlighting that "Sudan could become a terrorist safe haven due to this ongoing civil war," and Brennan asked Russell what the conditions are like for the next generations to which Russell said:

"The conditions are absolutely terrible. I have to say I was at a center that UNICEF supports where we were providing all sorts of services for children education, which you know, is as as we discussed a horrific problem for them not being in school, trying to provide health care, providing psychosocial support for children who are so traumatized, it's just almost hard to imagine. It's also- it's just such a desperate place in so many ways. They're so you know, they've been so traumatized by so much violence, and they've seen things that no child should ever see. And that's really something that long term is hard to imagine how they get over it. Having said that, we are there, we're working hard, we are getting to these children. But this ongoing conflict makes it almost impossible to provide a decent future for these kids."

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