The events unfolded nearly 18 months ago, when rival armies clashed in Sudan, forcing more than 10 million people from their homes, half of them children.
“People in Sudan have endured 17 months of hell, and the suffering continues to increase,” said the UN’s top emergency official, Joyce Msuya, acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. “Thousands of civilians have been killed, entire communities have been displaced and deprived of food, families have been dispersed, children have been traumatized, women have been raped and beaten. There is an urgent need for decisive international action. We need humanitarian access to all who need help, through all necessary routes, increased funding for the response, rock-solid commitments to protect civilians, and above all, real and inclusive steps to end this devastating war.”
Difficult diplomacy
Repeated warnings from UN humanitarian agencies and calls for an end to hostilities Security Council have failed to stop the violence, although US-led peace talks in Switzerland in August with mediators from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates resulted in pledges to increase aid access from neighbouring Chad to the west and from Port Sudan to the east.
The emergency has now become the world’s largest hunger crisis, according to UN humanitarian workers. They have warned that nearly 26 million people are already suffering from acute hunger throughout Sudan.
“Without urgent help, hundreds of thousands could die,” the UN World Food Programme (World Food Programme) said Tuesday during a press conference in Geneva.
The UN Aid Coordination Office, OCHAand the UN refugee agency, UN refugee agencynoted that famine has been declared in the Zamzam camp in North Darfur, but that “many other areas” are at risk. A staggering nearly five million children and pregnant and lactating women suffer from acute malnutritionas can be seen from the latest reviews.
Disease creeps up on the weakest
Diseases also spread rapidly among malnourished communities whose immune systems are weakened.Health care and basic services have been decimated, cholera and other diseases are on the riseand children are out of school for the second year in a row,” the UN agencies said in a statement. “The emergency is one of the worst protection crises in recent history, with alarming levels of sexual and gender-based violence continuing to terrorize civilians, particularly women and girls.”
In addition to the threat of continued heavy fighting, humanitarian organizations are struggling to deliver life-saving aid due to limited access to aid and chronic underfunding. Of the $2.7 billion needed to help 14.7 million people in Sudan by the end of the year, funding is currently only 49 percent. The $1.5 billion appeal to help 3.3 million refugees from Sudan in seven neighboring countries is only 25 percent funded.
Refugee Agency Appeal
“This brutal war has uprooted millions of people, forcing them to leave their homes, schools and jobs in search of safety,” said Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees. “Countries bordering Sudan are generously hosting a growing number of refugees, but they cannot shoulder this responsibility alone. People now need humanitarian assistance and support to rebuild their lives. Meaningful peace efforts are also urgently needed so that people can eventually return home. The stability of the entire region hangs in the balance.”
These and other challenges will be discussed at ministerial level during the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, which is jointly hosted by OCHA, UNHCR, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the US, the African Union and the European Union. All have stressed their support for the people of Sudan and a peaceful solution to the crisis.
“For more than 500 days, the Sudanese people have been bearing the burden of this war, feeling forgotten and abandoned by the world,” said WFP spokesperson Leni Kinzli. “They still cling to the hope that one day they can live together again. We owe it to the Sudanese people to take collective action to prevent large-scale famine.”
- To view the UN General Assembly’s call for greater action to end the war and accelerate the humanitarian response in Sudan and the region today, click here for webtv coverage. The meeting will be streamed live from 10:00 EST/16:00 CET.