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.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and United Nations agencies are warning that ongoing fighting in Sudan will trigger a catastrophic food crisis in the months ahead. The current violence has disrupted the country’s May to October planting season, which is likely to increase acute food insecurity across the country.
An estimated 2.5 million people in Sudan are already expected to slip into hunger in the coming months because of the ongoing violence. This would take acute food insecurity in Sudan to record levels, with more than 19 million people affected, 40 percent of the population.
As Sudan approaches the lean season, farmers should be preparing for the planting season, but due to insecurity, displacement, price hikes and the collapse of key supply chains, it has become almost impossible to access seeds and other agricultural supplies. In addition, farmers are unable to reach their land, further compounding the situation.
Clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continue in Khartoum, Darfur, and several areas of the country, despite several agreed cease-fires. The latest 72-hour truce agreed by the warring factions was reportedly to begin Sunday morning. Previous cease-fires have failed to bring the fighting to a complete end.
At the same time, looting of medical and humanitarian assets continues on a massive scale. Hospitals and water facilities have come under attack. Humanitarian warehouses and offices have been ransacked. Aid workers have been killed.
Since fighting between the SAF and the RSF erupted in Khartoum in mid-April, at least 1700 people have been killed nationwide, and more than 11,700 injured.
This week, the United Nations expressed its deep concern about ongoing violence in the Darfur region of Sudan. In a statement released through his spokesman, UN Secretary-General AntĂłnio Guterres reiterated his call for SAF and RSF to cease fighting and commit to a durable cessation of hostilities.
The UN chief “is appalled by reports of large-scale violence and casualties across the region, in particular in El Geneina, West Darfur, as well as other areas including Nyala in South Darfur and Kutum and El Fasher in North Darfur, resulting from the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)”, the statement said.
Guterres also expressed grave worry about the increasing ethnic dimension of violence in Darfur, as well as reports of sexual violence.
On Thursday, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, warned that the situation in the Darfur region is spiraling into a “humanitarian calamity”. He urged the parties to allow those seeking to flee to do so safely and voluntarily.
“I am particularly worried about conditions in Darfur where people are trapped in a living nightmare: Babies dying in hospitals where there were being treated; children and mothers suffering from severe malnutrition; camps for displaced persons burned to the ground; girls raped; schools closed; and families eating leaves to survive,” he said.
Griffiths also urged the warring factions and those with influence to ensure the movement of humanitarian supplies and personnel from other parts of Sudan — and from neighboring countries — to Darfur. Nearly 9 million people are urgently requiring humanitarian aid and protection in the region.
Meanwhile, UN agencies continue to respond to the surging humanitarian needs across the country. As of June 16, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has facilitated the movement of at least 350 trucks carrying more than 14,000 tons of vital assistance to different locations across the country.
On Monday, UN Secretary-General AntĂłnio Guterres will open a high-level pledging event for Sudan and the region. The United Nations is co-hosting the Geneva conference with the Governments of Egypt, Germany, Qatar, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as the European Union.
Ahead of the conference, NGOs have urged donors to give generously and to boost funding to help meet spiraling humanitarian needs resulting from the conflict within Sudan and the flow of refugees into neighboring countries. The revised 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Sudan calls for $2.6 billion to provide lifesaving assistance to an estimated 18.1 million people by the end of this year. As of June 18, the HRP is only 17.1 percent funded.
The conflict between Sudan’s military headed up by General Abdel Fattah Burhan and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces led by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo broke out on April 15 after months of rising tensions over the country's political future and the RSF's planned integration into the national army.
Humanitarian needs in Sudan were already at record levels before the situation deteriorated, with some 15.8 million people requiring humanitarian assistance. The number of people in need of humanitarian aid stands now at 24.7 million people – more than half of Sudan’s population.
Before the fighting started, Sudan hosted about 1.2 million refugees, one of the largest refugee populations in Africa, some 3.7 million Sudanese were internally displaced, mostly in the Darfur region that has experienced a volatile security situation since 2003. As of June 2023, there are some 5.4 million women, men, and children internally displaced. More than 800,000 Sudanese had fled to neighboring countries before the clashes escalated. The number of Sudanese refugees is now estimated at more than 1.3 million people.
Further information
Full text: Situation in Darfur spiraling into humanitarian calamity as Sudan conflict hits two-month mark - Statement by Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (15 June 2023), OCHA, published June 15, 2023
https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/situation-darfur-spiraling-humanitarian-calamity-sudan-conflict-hits-two-month-mark-statement-martin-griffiths-under-secretary-general-humanitarian-affairs-and-emergency-relief-coordinator-15-june-2023