The development comes nearly 18 months since rival military forces began fighting each other in Sudan, forcing more than 10 million people to flee their homes – half of them children.
“The people of Sudan have endured 17 months of hell, and the suffering continues to mount,” “Thousands of civilians have been killed, entire communities have been displaced and left without food, families have been torn apart, children have been traumatized, women have been raped and abused,” said UN chief humanitarian official Joyce Msuya, Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. Decisive international action is urgently needed. We need humanitarian access to all those in need, through every route necessary, increased funding for the response, a commitment to protecting civilians and, above all, real and comprehensive steps to end this brutal war.”
Difficult diplomacy
Continued warnings from UN humanitarian organizations and calls for an end to hostilities from Security Council The violence has yet to end, although U.S.-led peace talks in Switzerland in August with mediators from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates produced commitments to increase aid access from neighboring Chad to the west and from Port Sudan to the east.
The emergency is now the world’s biggest hunger crisis, according to UN humanitarian officials, who have warned that Nearly 26 million people are suffering from severe hunger. across Sudan.
“Without urgent assistance, hundreds of thousands of people could die,” United Nations World Food Programme (World Food Programme) said at a press conference in Geneva on Tuesday.
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Foreign Affairs, OCHAand the United Nations refugee agency, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugeesnoted that famine had been confirmed in Zamzam camp in North Darfur, but that “many other areas” were also at risk. Nearly five million children and pregnant and lactating women suffer from acute malnutritionLatest reviews show.
Illness lurks the weakest
Diseases are also spreading rapidly in malnourished communities with weakened immune systems.Health care and basic services have been devastated, cholera and other diseases are on the riseand children have been out of school for the second year in a row,” the UN agencies said in a statement. “This emergency is one of the worst protection crises in recent history, with alarming levels of sexual and gender-based violence continuing to inflict horror on civilians, particularly women and girls.”
In addition to the threat posed by the ongoing fighting, humanitarian organizations have struggled to scale up life-saving aid deliveries due to limited access to aid and chronic underfunding. Of the $2.7 billion needed to help 14.7 million people inside Sudan by the end of the year, funding is only 49 percent complete. A $1.5 billion appeal to help 3.3 million refugees from Sudan in seven neighboring countries is only 25 percent complete.
Refugee agency appeals
“This brutal war has displaced millions of people, forcing them to abandon their homes, schools and jobs in search of safety,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. “Sudan’s neighbours are generously hosting increasing numbers of refugees, but cannot shoulder the responsibility alone. People now need humanitarian aid and support to rebuild their lives. Meaningful peace efforts are also needed so that people can eventually return home. The stability of the entire region is at stake.”
These and other challenges will be discussed at the ministerial level at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, co-hosted by OCHA, UNHCR, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United States, the African Union and the European Union. All have stressed their support for the Sudanese people and a peaceful solution to the crisis.
“For more than 500 days, the people of Sudan have borne the brunt of this war, feeling forgotten and abandoned by the world,” said WFP spokesperson Leni Kinzli. “They are still clinging to the hope that one day they can return to normal life. We owe it to the people of Sudan to act collectively and prevent mass starvation.“ .
- To view the call at the UN General Assembly for increased action to end the war and accelerate the humanitarian response in Sudan and the region today, click here. This to be reported on webtv. The meeting will be live streamed from 10am EST/4pm CET.
