As the conflict in Sudan continues, approximately 24 million people, nearly half of the country’s population, need food and humanitarian assistance. However, due to the relentless violence and funding shortages, only 2.5 million people have received aid, according to senior United Nations officials on Friday.
Eden Worsohno, the Director of Operations at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and Ted Chaiban, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, recently returned from Sudan and painted a grim picture of the devastation and turmoil in the country, with no peace talks in sight.
“The hotspots, such as the capital Khartoum, South Kordofan, and western Darfur, have been torn apart by relentless violence,” Worsohno stated. Close to 4 million people have fled the fighting, facing scorching temperatures reaching up to 48 degrees Celsius, and threats of attacks, sexual violence, and death. The situation is now worse than it was in 2004. Tragically, 18 relief workers have been killed in Sudan so far.
The ongoing conflict, which has lasted for almost four months, has resulted in the deaths of over 3,000 people and injuries to more than 6,000 others, according to the latest government figures released in June. However, doctors and activists suggest that the true toll may be much higher. It has become a humanitarian catastrophe.
Meanwhile, Chaiban emphasized that even before the outbreak of war on April 15, Sudan was already facing a humanitarian crisis. The crisis, which has lasted for more than 110 days of intense fighting, has now become a catastrophe. This situation poses a threat to the lives and future of an entire generation of children and youth, who make up more than 70% of the population.
Ethnic violence has resurged in Darfur, the statistics are grim, with 24 million people in need of food and other humanitarian aid, including 14 million children, equivalent to the combined child populations of Colombia, France, Germany, and Thailand.
Currently, Sudan is one of the most dangerous places to operate in, and despite UN efforts to reach 18 million Sudanese with aid, only 2.5 million have been reached between April and June due to the intense fighting and difficulties in accessing those in need.