Sudan

According to the United Nations, large numbers of children are dying every month from malnutrition, measles and diarrhea, and other preventable diseases in Sudan, where armed conflict has displaced more than 5.3 million people from their homes. Between May 15 and September 14, at least 1,200 children under the age of five died from a deadly combination of a suspected measles outbreak and high malnutrition in nine camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Sudan's White Nile state alone.

Amid the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Sudan, the heads of over 50 human rights and humanitarian organizations have sounded the alarm and called for more aid, solidarity and attention to the Sudan Crisis. In an open letter published Wednesday, the leaders of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) also urged the United Nations Security Council (UN SC) to act. Meanwhile, the UN SC heard briefings on the ongoing atrocities in the country and those responsible for committing them.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), alongside 64 humanitarian and national civil society organizations, has appealed Monday for US$1 billion to provide essential humanitarian aid and protection to over 1.8 million people expected to arrive in five neighboring countries by the end of 2023, fleeing ongoing conflict in Sudan. One million refugees, returnees and foreign nationals have already crossed borders into the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan.

Four months into the war in Sudan, humanitarian leaders are highlighting the devastating impact the brutal conflict has had on millions of people whose lives have been destroyed and whose basic human rights have been violated. In a statement issued Tuesday, they called on the parties to the conflict to end the fighting, protect civilians and give humanitarian organizations unfettered access to all people in need in all areas of the country.

United Nations agencies warn that hunger in conflict-ridden Sudan has reached record levels, with more than 20.3 million people across the country, over 42 percent of the population, facing acute hunger, including 6.3 million who are “one step away from famine.” According to the latest IPC food assessment in Sudan, the number of people projected to be food insecure between July and September has nearly doubled from the last analysis, conducted in May 2022.

A senior United Nations official has called Wednesday for a negotiated solution to the conflict in Sudan, saying there is no alternative. Meanwhile, UN agencies warn health conditions are deteriorating in Sudan and neighboring countries as growing numbers of people flee escalating fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has raised a dire warning about the escalating food crisis in Sudan Wednesday as more than 20 million people are facing hunger and close to 4 million people have been displaced as a result of the conflict. Meanwhile, the international human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) said in a new report Thursday, that extensive war crimes are being committed in Sudan as the conflict between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) ravages the country.

A group of Sudanese rights and professional bodies has accused both warring parties in Sudan of committing atrocities that could be prosecuted as war crimes and crimes against humanity. In a petition addressed to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, the coalition called for an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC). 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned on Thursday that health threats are surging as the war in Sudan escalates and millions of people, many sick and wounded, flee for safety within Sudan and across borders to neighboring countries where health services are fragile and hard to reach. The war, which erupted more than three months ago between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), is not contained within the country but has profound regional implications.

Monday marks another grim milestone in the conflict in Sudan. Since the fighting started 100 days ago, thousands of civilians have been killed and injured, and millions displaced as a result of the nightmarish violence that broke out. UN agencies and international humanitarian organizations around the world today called attention to the plight of the people of Sudan and demanded action to end the war and improve the humanitarian response to the crisis.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) warned Friday that it may end operations in Sudan at a hospital in the capital, Khartoum, after 18 of its workers were “aggressively assaulted,” as the conflict entered its fourth month this week. MSF said the incident happened while the team was moving medical supplies from the organization’s warehouse to the Turkish Hospital in the Sudanese capital.

The bodies of at least 87 ethnic Masalit and others allegedly killed last month by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allied militia in Sudan’s West Darfur state have been buried in a mass grave outside the capital El-Geneina, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said Thursday. Volker Türk, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, has called on the RSF leadership immediately and unequivocally to condemn and stop the killing of people, and to end violence and hate speech against people on the basis of their ethnicity.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has condemned the air strike in the Sudanese city of Omdurman on Saturday, which reportedly killed at least 22 people, and left dozens injured. Guterres “remains deeply concerned that the ongoing war between the armed forces has pushed Sudan to the brink of a full-scale civil war, potentially destabilizing the entire region”, according to his spokesman.

Senior United Nations officials today voiced shock and condemnation at increasing reports of gender-based violence (GBV) in Sudan – including conflict-related sexual violence against internally displaced and refugee women and girls – since clashes erupted in the country in mid-April. Fighting in Sudan has now entered its 12th week, with no end in sight after multiple failed ceasefire attempts.

Leading United Nations agencies, including the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), warn that millions of people in the greater Horn of Africa are trapped in an emergency hunger and health crisis driven by overlapping disasters, including climate change and conflict. WHO’s Greater Horn of Africa region includes the seven affected countries of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called on the leadership of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to immediately condemn and stop the killing of people fleeing El-Geneina in Sudan’s West Darfur state. The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said it was gravely concerned at reports of “wanton killings” by “Arab” militia backed by the paramilitary RSF, primarily targeting men from the Masalit community.

The international community pledged $1.5 billion Monday toward tackling the massive humanitarian crisis in Sudan, as fighting between forces led by rival generals has only been punctuated by brief truces and no political solution appears close at hand. Meanwhile, the lasted 72-hour truce in Sudan that came into force Sunday morning seems to be holding, at least in the capital Khartoum.

As the current hostilities in Sudan are entering the third month, the humanitarian situation across the country continues to deteriorate and a catastrophic food crisis looms, if fighting does not stop.  Since the clashes started on April 15, more than 2.1 million people have been displaced, including nearly 1.7 million within the country and about half a million to neighboring countries. Among the displaced are more than 1 million children.

For the first time, Burkina Faso tops the list of the world’s ten most neglected displacement crises, according to a new report from the humanitarian organization Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). Releasing the analysis today, the nongovernmental organization (NGO) warned that redirection of aid and attention towards Ukraine has increased neglect of some of the world’s most vulnerable people. 

After six weeks of conflict, the United Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that more than 13.6 million children in Sudan are in urgent need of humanitarian aid, the highest number ever recorded in the country. UNICEF said on Tuesday that the impact of ongoing violence continues to threaten the lives and futures of families and children, leaving basic services cut off and many health facilities closed, damaged, or destroyed.

Acute food insecurity is set to increase in magnitude and severity in 18 hunger hotspots comprising a total of 22 countries, a new UN early warning report has found. The analysis issued Monday by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) calls for urgent humanitarian action to save lives and livelihoods and prevent starvation and death in countries where acute hunger is at a high risk of worsening from June to November 2023.

The United Nations says that close to 1.4 million people have been displaced due to the conflict in Sudan since clashes erupted in mid-April. More than 1,042,000 people have fled their homes and are internally displaced within Sudan, while over 345,000 men, women, and children have crossed the borders to neighboring countries.

A short-term ceasefire between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has gone into effect Monday at 09:45 p.m. local time (19:45 GMT). The agreement on the seven-day ceasefire aimed at facilitating the delivery of emergency humanitarian assistance and restoration of essential services in Sudan was signed on Saturday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia by representatives of the SAF and the RSF.

Sudan's warring parties have signed a commitment Thursday establishing guidelines for allowing humanitarian assistance into the country. However, the “Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan” did not include a cease-fire. Meanwhile, United Nations officials said Friday that 200,000 people have now fled the violence in Sudan to neighboring countries, while 734,000 people have been displaced inside Sudan.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned Wednesday that an additional 2 - 2.5 million people in Sudan are expected to slip into hunger in the coming months as a result of the ongoing violence in the country. This would take acute food insecurity in Sudan to record levels, with more than 19 million people affected, two fifths of the population. 

United Nations agencies report at least 850,000 people have been displaced by the fighting between the Sudanese armed forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that started on April 15. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday, more than 700,000 people are now internally displaced by the fighting. At least 150,000 women, men, and children have fled to neighboring countries, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

The United Nations humanitarian chief is calling on Sudan's rival military leaders to publicly commit themselves to the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance to millions of people struggling to survive amid escalating fighting. At the end of a visit to the region, Martin Griffiths, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said Wednesday the Sudanese people face a humanitarian catastrophe.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has lifted its suspension of operations in Sudan, as the fighting there threatens millions with hunger. The WFP had paused its work in the country when three staff members were killed in North Darfur on April 15 - the first day of the conflict between Sudan’s army and a paramilitary unit, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Millions of Sudanese face acute hunger, increased health risks, and death from recoverable injuries because UN agencies have been forced to suspend lifesaving activities in Sudan, where fighting has it made it too dangerous for them to operate in many regions. Clashes between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) continued for 15 consecutive days since 15 April, despite the announcement of an extension of the ceasefire for an additional 72 hours from the evening of 27 April.

The United Nations is deeply worried about the impact of the fighting on the humanitarian situation in Sudan. After ten days of clashes, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says there are acute shortages of food, water, medicines and fuel, and limited access to communications and electricity while the prices of essential items are skyrocketing. Meanwhile, thousands of Sudanese are fleeing the violence to South Sudan, Chad and Egypt as foreigners are evacuated to their home countries.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for an immediate halt to fighting in Sudan on Thursday and appealed for a three-day cease-fire to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to enable trapped civilians to seek safety and supplies. Clashes have entered their seventh day in Sudan on Friday. More than 413 people have been killed due to fighting in the capital Khartoum and several other states, including Darfur. Another 3,551 people have been injured.

Battles raged in the streets of Khartoum for a fifth day Wednesday after the country's two warring factions failed to honor a cease-fire. Loud explosions and gunfire were heard in the Sudanese capital, and witnesses reported heavy fighting between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the center of the city.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a Grade 3 Emergency Appeal for the Greater Horn of Africa region on Friday. The United Nations organization is asking for USD 178 million (EUR 167 million) to carry out urgent, life-saving health work in 2023 to help the Greater Horn region. WHO’s Greater Horn of Africa region includes the seven affected countries of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned today of spiraling humanitarian needs for refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) in Sudan as living costs soar due to the impact of the war in Ukraine, the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and extreme weather conditions resulting from the climate crisis. Sudan hosts among the largest number of displaced people on the African continent, including over 1.1 million refugees – mostly from South Sudan – and 3.7 million internally displaced Sudanese, mainly in Darfur and Kordofan.