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The Sustainable Development Goals in Sudan
The Sustainable Development Goals are a global call to action to end poverty, protect the earth’s environment and climate, and ensure that people everywhere can enjoy peace and prosperity. These are the goals the UN is working on in Sudan:
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09 December 2023
Sudanese women advocate for peace at conference in Uganda
We must work together to formulate a clear vision to achieve the aspirations of the Sudanese people, bringing back security, peace, and the establishment of a civil state where all citizens are equal, and opportunities are provided regardless of their gender, ethnic, religious, or tribal backgrounds.
Those are the words of Samia Argawi, a lawyer and founder of “Women Against War” and member of the “Peace for Sudan Platform”, a peacebuilding initiative by Sudanese women-led organizations and initiatives supported by UN Women.
Since fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces broke out on 15 April 2023, hundreds of people have been killed and thousands injured. UN reports have found that gender-based violence has increased during the conflict, and the humanitarian situation has significantly worsened, with food prices peaking and limited access to water and electricity.
The Peace for Sudan Platform comprises more than 49 women-led peace initiatives, humanitarian initiatives, and civil society organizations, featuring representatives from across the different regions of the country.
Soon after fighting broke out, UN Women and partners including the African Union, the African Women Leaders Network, at the request of the Peace for Sudan Platform, organized a virtual high-level solidarity mission to support and amplify calls to end the conflict, highlight its impact on women and girls, and mobilize support to women’s peacebuilding and protection efforts.
In late October, shortly after the conflict passed its six-month mark, UN Women in partnership with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), African Union, and International Women's Peace Center organized a conference with Sudanese women peacebuilders in Kampala, Uganda.
The conference included consultations with more than 400 women across 14 Sudanese states about their priorities and demands and aimed to build bridges between women in Sudan and in countries across the region. Women joined online from Sudan and in-person, with many refugees and exiles attending.
The conference also aimed to enhance women’s leadership and highlighted the leading role Sudanese women and young women are playing in mobilizing the peace movement.
A long history of peacebuilding
“Sudanese women have their own narrative of resilience and determination as agents of peace”, said Adjaratou Ndiaye, UN Women’s Sudan representative. “Conflict and displacement have never shaken their mission for peace, as we witness this gathering today and recognize all the women-led peace initiatives and responses on the ground and in other parts of the world”.
Many women joined Sudan’s 2019 revolution, which saw the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir after 30 years in power. Women were able to organize protests and support young people throughout the upheaval, and their activism was highlighted by alternative media outlets that arose after the revolution. But 2019 represented just one episode in a long line of women’s work for peace and justice in the country.
“Since the founding of Sudan 67 years ago, the women of Sudan have always stood out as a beacon of hope and the voice of reason during the successive crises that have faced the country”, said Workneh Gebeyehu, Executive Secretary of IGAD.
“Let us remember the wise words of our African proverbs: ‘When men go to war, it is women who must pick up the pieces’”, he said. “Together, we can empower the women of Sudan to be the agents of peace and rebuild our shared nation.”
Calls for an immediate peace
Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Suzan Hussein, a Sudanese woman activist living as a refugee in Uganda said, “This war should stop as soon as possible not just in Khartoum, but also in different areas in Sudan”.
“For me, this conference means a platform and a [form of] resistance. A platform in which I can represent the diversity of women in Sudan”, Hussein said, adding that she hoped the conference could link “different groups of women in order to create a feminist agenda” and resist violence against women.
Women-led organizations in Sudan have the expertise and experience to work on sensitive issues including gender-based violence and to provide services to women, girls, the elderly, and those with disabilities.
“Men do not consider our participation a priority, and they do not respond to women's demands for participation in negotiations”, said one woman activist whose anonymous testimony was presented at the conference.
“We are capable of representing ourselves on any platform, and we do not want men to speak on our behalf”, she said.
Another woman whose name was not disclosed to protect her safety was quoted in testimony as saying that existing women’s programming was difficult to continue during the conflict. While she was formerly able to provide kits to sexual violence survivors, “now we cannot reach the survivors to assist them”.
The current war is a manifestation of wider political, social, and economic forces. Argawi noted that peace was intimately tied with combating “poverty, marginalization, and discrimination, [and] creating a healthy and resilient environment”.
“We also hope to work together to develop a political consensus among the components of the people, a consensus that holds the recipe for political, economic, and social success”, Argawi said.
She explained that, only by developing agreements among all political actors, could the peace process “ensure the continuity of this approach, healing wounds, mending the fabric of our society, and injecting life into the nation's veins”.
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08 August 2023
How a tea-seller displaced by conflict led her family away from hunger
Written by Mohamed Elamin
“We fled into the unknown with no destination in mind,” says Awadeya Mahmoud, describing the night in April when the sound of an explosion woke up her family of ten. By dawn, they and the people living near them in their south-Khartoum neighbourhood decided enough was enough, and fled the capital.
A worsening security situation is making it increasingly difficult for the World Food Programme (WFP) to reach the 6.3 million people it intends to this year. Since conflict broke out in the country on 15 April, it has reached 1.5 million with critical supplies, including 40,000 children aged under-5, pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Two days after the bombing, Mahmoud and her children made it to Albageir village in Gezira state.
“The war displaced my whole family and my children never healed from the horror they felt,” she recalls. “They refused to eat or drink. They were just crying.”
At the time, the family were out of money and had to sell what belongings they could to finance their journey to safety. “I fled my home together with my neighbours to arrive in Albageir [village] before reaching Wad Madani,” says Mahmoud, who leads a cooperative of women caterers, including tea vendors like herself.
“I had to sell [many of] my belongings to be able to take my family to safety,” she says.
Continued fighting in Sudan poses a threat to the current planting season and to farmers who are already struggling to cope with soaring prices of fertilizers and seeds.
When Mahmoud and her neighbours arrived in Madani, 186km from home, finding a place to sleep was extremely difficult. The city was already filled with displaced people from the capital, Khartoum. Luckily, the families she had arrived with found a house to cram into with a total of 37 children.
With basic shelter in place, the problem of hunger persists. A third of Sudan’s population was already food-insecure before the war, according to WFP.
“We seriously suffered, we had a food problem and some of the children suffered from fevers and measles,” says Mahmoud.
She is among 24,606 people that WFP has assisted in Madani through its new hub in the city.
Using food from WFP, Mahmoud put her skills to work and started cooking for fellow displaced people.
“We are on full stomachs now,” she says of the families who escaped with hers. “I was given flour, oil, and yellow split beans.
Gezira is among 14 of the 18 states where WFP has assisted people in the past few months, alongside, for the first time, the River Nile and White Nile states.
While many people have made it safely out of Khartoum, thousands of families remain trapped in conflict areas with no access to food and other basic needs. “My cooperative alone has 150,000 members and I am hoping that WFP will be able to help them,” says Mahmoud.
“What WFP is doing is not easy. It's what we need the most in Sudan because you’re mobilizing food around the world for people,” says Mahmoud.
“Humanitarian needs have reached record levels and there is still no sign of an end to the conflict,” says Eddie Rowe, WFP’s Country Director for Sudan.
“WFP is doing everything possible to deliver life-saving assistance to millions of people in Sudan, but insecurity and access constraints are restricting us from reaching more people, especially in Khartoum and West Darfur.”
The conflict has caused severe damage to critical infrastructure nationwide, and access to food, water, cash, fuel, healthcare, and other basic services has been fractured. Moreover, razed and looted markets, broken transport networks and dysfunctional markets have strained food availability.
In West Darfur, the situation is alarming with reports of ethnic violence against civilians. Insecurity is making humanitarian access to Sudan’s most food-insecure state nearly impossible.
WFP urgently requires US$410 million for its operations in Sudan to ensure immediate life-saving assistance to conflict-affected people like Mahmoud and her family.
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Press Release
08 August 2023
Severe violations of children’s rights an ‘hourly occurrence’ in Sudan, warns UNICEF
PORT SUDAN/NEW YORK – As the brutal conflict in Sudan hits 100-days, UNICEF has received reports of a staggering 2,500 severe violations of children’s rights - an average of at least one an hour. As these are just the numbers reported to UNICEF sources, the true figure is likely to be far higher, and a grim reminder of the day-to-day impact of the crisis on the most vulnerable, in a country where almost 14 million children need humanitarian support.
“The scale of the impact that this conflict has had on children in Sudan in the past 100 days is almost beyond comprehension,” said Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director for Humanitarian Action and Supply Operations, who is in Sudan this week. “Parents and grandparents who lived through previous cycles of violence are now having to watch their children and grandchildren experience similar horrific experiences. Each and every day, children are being killed, injured, abducted, and seeing the schools, hospitals and the vital infrastructure and life-saving supplies they rely on damaged, destroyed or looted.”
At least 435 children have been reported killed in the conflict, and at least 2,025 children injured.
In addition to those killed and injured, UNICEF has received alarming reports of escalating attacks against health facilities in parts of Sudan. An estimated 68 per cent of hospitals in the worst-affected areas have had to suspend service and at least 17 hospitals have reportedly been bombed. Several more hospitals are believed to have been turned into military bases, and there have been repeated reports of ambulances coming under attack.
Over three months into the conflict, millions of families have been uprooted from their homes by the violence. Before the crisis, nearly 3.8 million people were internally displaced in Sudan, 1.9 million of whom were children. 1.7 million additional children have been driven from their homes and are now on the move within Sudan and crossing its borders, vulnerable to hunger, disease, violence, and separation from their families. Reports of abductions, recruitment of children into armed groups, ethnically targeted violence, and gender-based violence against women and girls are also on the rise, with 4.2 million women and girls at risk of Gender-Based Violence.
Restricted movement due to the security situation, administrative barriers and bureaucratic impediments and the denial of humanitarian access, remain key obstacles to delivering much needed aid to those in desperate need and pose a threat to aid workers. Combined with the destruction and looting of critical supplies and facilities, this has left at least 690,000 children exposed to severe acute malnutrition and 1.7 million children under the age of one risk missing critical vaccinations, raising the risk of disease outbreaks.
“The past 100 days have shown that—as in any conflict—the direct and indirect impacts for children and families are devastating, and without concerted action, including the commitment of the parties to the conflict to stop the fighting and uphold international law, severe violations of children’s rights will only worsen,” said Chaiban. “Without guaranteed, safe and unimpeded access for humanitarian workers, and life-saving supplies, along with urgently needed additional funding, the futures of millions of children will remain in the balance.”
Despite the challenges, over the past 100 days UNICEF, with partners, has reached over 3 million children and women with health supplies, 1.4 million people with safe drinking water, and 1.7 million children with screening for malnutrition—of which 82,000 received life-saving treatment. In addition, almost 100,000 children and caregivers are benefitting from psycho-social counselling and protection support, including through over 400 safe-spaces established across the country.
To date, UNICEF delivered over 5,500 metric tons of life-saving supplies across Sudan, including in hotspot areas in Darfur, Kordofan, and Khartoum. However, while fighting continues, needs will only increase, with many vulnerable communities remain out of reach of humanitarian support.
As of mid-July, the UNICEF appeal for US$838 million to reach almost 10 million of the most vulnerable children in Sudan is only 9 per cent funded. UNICEF urgently needs $400 million to sustain and scale up critical life-saving health, nutrition, water, sanitation, learning and protection assistance to the most vulnerable children caught in this crisis over the next 100 days.
Media contacts Ammar Ammar Regional Chief of Communication and Advocacy UNICEF Amman Tel: +962 7 91837388 Email: aammar@unicef.org Salim Oweis Regional Communication Chief (OIC) MENARO Email: soweis@unicef.org
“The scale of the impact that this conflict has had on children in Sudan in the past 100 days is almost beyond comprehension,” said Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director for Humanitarian Action and Supply Operations, who is in Sudan this week. “Parents and grandparents who lived through previous cycles of violence are now having to watch their children and grandchildren experience similar horrific experiences. Each and every day, children are being killed, injured, abducted, and seeing the schools, hospitals and the vital infrastructure and life-saving supplies they rely on damaged, destroyed or looted.”
At least 435 children have been reported killed in the conflict, and at least 2,025 children injured.
In addition to those killed and injured, UNICEF has received alarming reports of escalating attacks against health facilities in parts of Sudan. An estimated 68 per cent of hospitals in the worst-affected areas have had to suspend service and at least 17 hospitals have reportedly been bombed. Several more hospitals are believed to have been turned into military bases, and there have been repeated reports of ambulances coming under attack.
Over three months into the conflict, millions of families have been uprooted from their homes by the violence. Before the crisis, nearly 3.8 million people were internally displaced in Sudan, 1.9 million of whom were children. 1.7 million additional children have been driven from their homes and are now on the move within Sudan and crossing its borders, vulnerable to hunger, disease, violence, and separation from their families. Reports of abductions, recruitment of children into armed groups, ethnically targeted violence, and gender-based violence against women and girls are also on the rise, with 4.2 million women and girls at risk of Gender-Based Violence.
Restricted movement due to the security situation, administrative barriers and bureaucratic impediments and the denial of humanitarian access, remain key obstacles to delivering much needed aid to those in desperate need and pose a threat to aid workers. Combined with the destruction and looting of critical supplies and facilities, this has left at least 690,000 children exposed to severe acute malnutrition and 1.7 million children under the age of one risk missing critical vaccinations, raising the risk of disease outbreaks.
“The past 100 days have shown that—as in any conflict—the direct and indirect impacts for children and families are devastating, and without concerted action, including the commitment of the parties to the conflict to stop the fighting and uphold international law, severe violations of children’s rights will only worsen,” said Chaiban. “Without guaranteed, safe and unimpeded access for humanitarian workers, and life-saving supplies, along with urgently needed additional funding, the futures of millions of children will remain in the balance.”
Despite the challenges, over the past 100 days UNICEF, with partners, has reached over 3 million children and women with health supplies, 1.4 million people with safe drinking water, and 1.7 million children with screening for malnutrition—of which 82,000 received life-saving treatment. In addition, almost 100,000 children and caregivers are benefitting from psycho-social counselling and protection support, including through over 400 safe-spaces established across the country.
To date, UNICEF delivered over 5,500 metric tons of life-saving supplies across Sudan, including in hotspot areas in Darfur, Kordofan, and Khartoum. However, while fighting continues, needs will only increase, with many vulnerable communities remain out of reach of humanitarian support.
As of mid-July, the UNICEF appeal for US$838 million to reach almost 10 million of the most vulnerable children in Sudan is only 9 per cent funded. UNICEF urgently needs $400 million to sustain and scale up critical life-saving health, nutrition, water, sanitation, learning and protection assistance to the most vulnerable children caught in this crisis over the next 100 days.
Media contacts Ammar Ammar Regional Chief of Communication and Advocacy UNICEF Amman Tel: +962 7 91837388 Email: aammar@unicef.org Salim Oweis Regional Communication Chief (OIC) MENARO Email: soweis@unicef.org
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25 April 2023
UN pledges to ‘stand with and work for the Sudanese people’
The UN Secretary-General on Monday welcomed the temporary relocation of hundreds of staff members and their families from the Sudanese capital Khartoum, amid the continuing intense fighting between rival military factions which has now entered its second week.
Speaking in the UN Security Council, António Guterres said: “Let me be clear: the United Nations is not leaving Sudan. Our commitment is to the Sudanese people, in support of their wishes for a peaceful and secure future. We stand with them, at this terrible time.”
In blunt terms, he said the violence must stop, now. "It risks a catastrophic conflagration within Sudan, that could engulf the whole region and beyond."
In a statement issued earlier by his Spokesperson, António Guterres said the relocation exercise had been carried out “without incident”, adding that he appreciated the cooperation shown by Sudanese army personnel and paramilitaries from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), allowing safe passage to Port Sudan, on the Red Sea.
“The Secretary-General reiterates his call on the parties to immediately cease hostilities and allow all civilians to evacuate from areas affected by the fighting.”
Mr. Guterres affirmed “the continued dedication” of the whole UN system, “to stand with, and work for, the Sudanese people, in support of their wishes for a peaceful, secure future and a return to the democratic transition.”
The warring factions had worked together since the ousting of long-term ruler Omar al-Bashir, four years ago, carrying out a military coup in a joint operation in 2021 which ended a military-civilian power sharing agreement. In recent months as negotiations over a return to civilian rule advanced, the two factions failed to agree an integration plan, on the road to the formation of a civilian government.
'Exert maximum leverage'
Addressing ambassadors in the Security Council during a general debate on the importance of multilateralism, Mr. Guterres condemned the “indiscriminate” bombing of civilian areas and facilities, calling on members “to exert maximum leverage with the parties to end the violence, restore order, and return to the path of the democratic transition.”
He said he was in “constant contact” with military leaders in Khartoum and has called on them to return to the negotiating table.
“Civilians must be able to access food, water and other essential supplies, and evacuate from combat zones”, he said.
Death toll
In its latest update, the UN humanitarian coordination office OCHA, reported that after nine days of fighting at least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 injured.
At least 11 health facilities have been attacked and many are no longer functioning at all in Khartoum and Darfur states.
Relocation and evacuation plan
In a statement issued by the UN Assistance Mission for the transition to civilian rule, UNITAMS, the Special Representative Volker Perthes, said that the relocated staff would be evacuated from Sudan, to neighbouring countries, “where they will work remotely, as a measure to minimize risks to their safety while continuing to provide assistance to the Sudanese people.”
About 700 UN, international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), and embassy staff and their families, have arrived in Port Sudan by road, he continued.
“Also, 43 internationally recruited UN staff and 29 INGO staff have already been evacuated from El Geneina (West Darfur) and Zalingei (Central Darfur) to Chad, while other operations are ongoing or planned.
‘Necessary measures’ to protect Sudanese workers
Mr. Perthes said he and a small number of other internationally recruited staff, would remain in Sudan “and continue to work towards resolving the current crisis”.
He said the UN was “taking the necessary measures to protect Sudanese employees and their families and is looking into all possible ways to support them.”
"We are committed to staying in Sudan and supporting the Sudanese people in every way we can. We will do everything we can to save lives while protecting the safety of our people."
Press Conference: The Humanitarian Situation in Sudan (20 April 2023)
This article first appeared in UN News.
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08 March 2024
Enhancing the capacities of women in agriculture in Sudan
“I am feeling happy because I no longer have to buy maize from the market to feed my children” she said., Hawa is one of about 150 other women farmers in the area called Al-Saffarah in Al-Qalabat, about 20 kilometers southeast of Gedaref state. According to FAO -Women represent 49% of the farmers in the irrigated sector and 57% in the rainfed traditional sector in Sudan. Women in the rainfed sector are primarily subsistence farmers but they also work as seasonal wage labourers in the rainfed mechanized sector, and as hired or unpaid family labourers in the irrigated sector. Although women play a crucial role in agriculture, contributing to both the GDP and to household food security, their contribution to agriculture and the overall economic development process continues to be undervalued.Hawa comes from a poor background with nine family members. She rented land and grew agricultural produce to protect herself and her family from hunger and misery. She used to produce about 3 bags of sorghum per year, but she couldn’t plant for two years due to the difficult economic conditions. In 2023, Hawawas finally able to plant after receiving seeds and agriculture equipment from UN WOMEN in collaboration with FAO and AICS under the WE_RISE project... She planted about one and a half hectares and harvestedfour bags of a sorghum in 2024. Hawa added that the biggest challenge for her was the weed called “Buda”, which is common in the area. She had a lot of trouble fighting and eradicating it and preventing its harvest until the end of the season.Hawa is one of the beneficiaries of the WE_ RISE project, having received seeds along with 30 other women farmers in her village as part of a program funded by the European Union aim to create an environment that promotes the economic empowerment of women living in the most basic conditions in the States of Khartoum, Kassala, Gedaref and the Blue Sea.D. Awatif Nahar, Economist and Gender specialist said, “The increase in the productivity in the current humanitarian crisis is substantial to reducing the food insecurity risk and enhancing the local economy growth”.The program also aims to encourage women's economic empowerment, contribute to gender equality and women's rights by promoting social health and strengthening national capacities.
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08 March 2024
A Celebration of Women Who Stayed to Serve-Sudan
Women continue to play a critical role in the recovery and reconstruction of Sudan despite being the largest population disproportionately affected by the protracted conflict. To date, the conflict has displaced and impacted 8.1 million people out of which 69% are women, which amounts to 12.4% of the total population of Sudan. Though a grave situation in the country, the women’s resilience has not been waived. One inspiring success story of a woman working in a conflict-affected area is about Nada Bashir, a project manager for UNOPS in Sudan. Nada’s journey is a testament to the resilience, courage, and commitment of women. Nada Graduated from Khartoum University with an Architectural Engineer and has more than 21 years of experience in the field of project management, 9 of which were in UAE where she became the first female to be allowed to work inside the National Drilling Company site. She is passionate about project management and was the first Sudanese Project Management Professional holder since 2005 (Colorado - USA).In 2021, Nada decided to go back to Sudan as she became increasingly aware of the challenges faced by women and children in her country. At that time she hadn't even secured any job - but her decision was based on her passion and interest in serving the people of Sudan. After the war broke out in 2023, despite the danger and the challenge, she kept working and was determined to make a difference in her community. “I knew my people were in need more than ever, so I decided to continue working as long as the situation allows me,” Nada says. With a unique combination of technical competencies and managerial abilities acquired during demanding roles in complex multi-million construction projects, Nada is currently focused on health infrastructure. To address the inadequate health infrastructure in Kassala, UNOPS Sudan and the Italian Government have been working together to implement a $10.5 million project. In 2023, UNOPS rehabilitated the diagnostic centre, renovated the blood bank, and constructed the Saudi Maternity Hospital’s new technical building as well as its public facilities blocks. With a population of around 2.8 million, Kassala town serves as the capital of Kassala State in Eastern Sudan. As a result of civil unrest, Kassala state is currently receiving an increasing number of IDPs which is growing daily. “When the war erupted, I had two open sites with unfinished works. Mobilizing the contractors to complete the work was not an easy task. In addition to the psychological pressures, we didn't have an internet connection, telephone lines were cut off, and much more… Against all odds, we managed to complete and hand over the first phase of the project. These health facilities are the main and only facilities of its nature which are currently serving not only Kassala residents but more than 175,000 IDPs. Now when I see the smiles of the facilities managers and the satisfaction of the beneficiaries while using those completed buildings, I couldn't be happier!” Nada proudly says. She continues explaining: “You know that out of the 2.8 million beneficiaries, 24.8% are women, 15% are children below five years old, and 4.9% are people living with disabilities - I believe I have not only contributed to the success of the project but also saved the lives of countless women and children. The project has contributed to the broader goal of rebuilding a more resilient and inclusive society in Kasalah, Sudan.” “I say to all the women out there working in a challenging environment, believe in what you are doing, and no matter how difficult it is, it is not impossible,” Nada concludes. Going forward, UNOPS will complete the General Surgery Unit, operation theaters and construction of the two main roads of the Kassala Health Citadel with external pavement and rehabilitation of the external areas between the blood bank and the diagnostic centre.
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27 February 2024
As Sudan’s war rages, fallout spreads to nearby countries
Marie-Helena Laurent. Eloge Mbaihondoum and Elizabeth Bryant Kadidja Abakar is haunted by the people she left behind, after fleeing her home in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region. “We saw dead bodies along the way,” recalls the mother of six. “The wounded lay in their blood, crying for help. But there was nobody to assist them.” Today, Abakar and her children are safe, after having crossed into eastern Chad last July. Other family members have since joined them at an overcrowded tent camp in the border town of Adre. But that is their only comfort. Tens of thousands of fellow Sudanese refugees in Adre lack water, shelter and proper hygiene. There is just one latrine for every 300 or more people.
And while the World Food Programme (WFP) has distributed food and nutrition assistance to hundreds of thousands of people arriving here from Sudan, funding cuts and impending rains – cutting off access to remote places – may dramatically shrink that support. “Only the luckiest have one meal a day,” says Abakar, her brightly colored gown contrasting sharply with the desolate desert landscape. “I can’t imagine how our situation would be if WFP stopped distributing food in the camp.” The dearth of funds – also faced by other humanitarian partners – is deepening and widening the nearly year-old Sudan crisis. Fighting that erupted and spread from capital Khartoum last April has uprooted nearly 8 million people. Of those, some 1.8 million have fled to neighboring countries, mostly to Chad and South Sudan. While WFP has mounted a massive humanitarian response, the funding crunch is now forcing us to cut assistance to hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people in both countries. “The impact of this conflict spans three countries – Sudan, South Sudan and Chad - and has created the world’s largest displacement crisis,” said WFP Michael Dunford, WFP’s Regional Director for Eastern Africa, during a recent visit to the South Sudanese border town of Renk. “The children and women who are crossing to South Sudan or Chad are hungry and arriving with no resources.”Nothing to eat Chad has seen its refugee population double over the past year, with more than half-a-million people crossing the border from Sudan. Many arrive injured and acutely hungry, with horrific tales of their journeys and the war. Like Abakar, a large chunk come from Darfur, just across the border.“Armed men hit us and chased us. They burnt our homes and stole all our belongings,” says grandmother Macka Adam, who fled the West Darfur city of El-Geneina. Her brother and a cousin died in the unrest. Other family members went missing. “Until now, we don’t know what has happened to them,” she says.
WFP distributes cereals, pulses, iodized salt and oil to the new arrivals, as well as specialized nutritious food to young children and pregnant and breastfeeding women. But insufficient financing has forced us to cut food assistance to more than 300,000 hungry people, including longstanding refugees from other parts of Africa. Without new funds, those cuts will affect even more people, including those who fled Sudan. The consequences could be catastrophic. Already, some 2.9 million people are projected to face acute hunger in Chad during the lean season between harvests this year, expert findings show – the highest level ever recorded for that period. The refugee population in eastern Chad, along with other fragile communities, counts among the most vulnerable. Funds are needed swiftly so WFP can position food ahead of June rains, which risk cutting off routes to remote communities.“To avoid disaster, we urgently need US$224 million to build up food stocks before rising rivers cut off roads,” said Pierre Honnorat, WFP’s Country Director in Chad.In Adre, refugee Abakar sold the few belongings she arrived with to help feed her large family. But those funds quickly ran out. Even with WFP food assistance, her children cry from hunger. She is weak from nursing her youngest. “The days when there is nothing to eat are the most difficult,” she says. Fears of a forgotten crisisThe situation is similarly dire in South Sudan. More than half-a-million people have arrived from Sudan since last April. Many are South Sudanese returnees, but increasing numbers are from Sudan. “What we need is food,” says Sudanese refugee Mehida Ibrahim, a mother of three who arrived in Renk, South Sudan’s overcrowded border crossing. “The immediate support we need is to eat, to be able to survive.” These refugees are arriving in a country where WFP has already slashed food rations, as a funding crunch bites. Almost 60 percent of South Sudan’s population faces crisis or worse levels of food insecurity, but we can only support those experiencing the most critical hunger emergency. As the number of refugees and returnees from Sudan continues to grow, it’s putting additional pressure on already-stretched resources. Desperate people are arriving to face a desperate context. “People crossing the border into South Sudan are exhausted,” says Aachal Chand, WFP's head of nutrition and school feeding in South Sudan. “They are really desperate for assistance. They are desperate for a safe place to escape the crisis in Sudan.” Despite the funding constraints, WFP continues to provide fortified biscuits and enough cash assistance for a week, as well as nutrition support for women and young children. But many people are staying in Renk far longer than the week our cash support covers. Malnutrition deepens the longer they stay, running through their resources. Indeed, the Sudanese arrivals account for more than one-third of those facing catastrophic hunger in South Sudan – even though they make up only 3 percent of the total population. “Sudan and its impact on South Sudan are becoming forgotten,” Chand says of international attention, as other calamities capture news headlines. “We must make sure we do not forget this crisis.” Such fears are also expressed in Chad, where grandmother Macka Adam worries about relatives still caught up in Sudan’s fighting – and about the future. “Even if I’ve found security and peace in Chad,” she says, “my heart is still in Sudan.”
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31 May 2023
UN humanitarians complete first food distribution in Khartoum as hunger, threats to children, intensify
For the first time since fighting broke out in Sudan on 15 April, humanitarians have been able to reach desperate families trapped in the conflict’s epicentre, Khartoum, with food assistance, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday.
WFP’s Country Director in Sudan, Eddie Rowe, told reporters in Geneva that in a major breakthrough, the agency distributed food assistance to 15,000 people in both Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) controlled areas of Omdurman, part of the Khartoum metropolitan area, beginning on Saturday.
Speaking from Port Sudan, Mr. Rowe highlighted other recent food distributions, in Wadi Halfa in Northern State to reach 8,000 people fleeing Khartoum and on their way to Egypt, as well as to 4,000 newly displaced people in Port Sudan.
Rapidly scaling up support
In total, WFP has been able to reach 725,000 people across 13 states in the country since it resumed its operations on 3 May, following a pause brought on by the killing of three aid workers at the start of the conflict.
Mr. Rowe said that WFP was rapidly scaling up its support, which they expected to expand depending on progress in negotiations for humanitarian access for all regions, including the Darfurs and Kordofans, strongly impacted by violence and displacement.
Hunger on the rise
In addition to the 16 million Sudanese who were already finding it “very difficult to afford a meal a day” before the fighting started, Mr. Rowe warned that the conflict compounded by the upcoming hunger season, could increase the food insecure population by about 2.5 million people in the coming months.
With the lean season fast approaching, WFP’s plan was to reach 5.9 million people across Sudan over the next six months, he said.
He stressed that WFP needed a total of $730 million to provide required assistance as well as telecommunications and logistics services to the humanitarian community, including all of the UN agencies operating in Sudan.
17,000 tonnes of food lost to looting
He also reiterated the humanitarian community’s call on all parties to the conflict to enable the safe delivery of urgently needed food aid, and deplored that so far, WFP had lost about 17,000 metric tonnes of food to widespread looting across the country, particularly in the Darfurs.
Just two days ago, he said, the agency’s main hub in El Obeid, North Kordofan, came under threat and looting of assets and vehicles was already confirmed.
Over 13 million children in need
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that “more children in Sudan today require lifesaving support than ever before”, with 13.6 million children in need of urgent assistance. “That’s more than the entire population of Sweden, of Portugal, of Rwanda,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva.
According to reports received by UNICEF, hundreds of girls and boys have been killed in the fighting. “While we are unable to confirm these due to the intensity of the violence, we also have reports that thousands of children have been maimed,” Mr. Elder said.
‘Death sentence’
He also pointed out that reports of children killed or injured are only those who had contact with a medical facility, meaning that the reality is “no doubt much worse” and compounded by a lack of access to life-saving services including nutrition, safe water, and healthcare.
Mr. Elder alerted that “all these factors combined, risk becoming a death sentence, especially for the most vulnerable”.
UNICEF called for funding to the tune of $838 million to address the crisis, an increase of $253 million since the current conflict began in April, to reach 10 million children. Mr. Elder stressed that only 5 per cent of the required amount had been received so far, and that without the therapeutic food and vaccines which this money would allow to secure, children would be dying.
Healthcare under attack
The dire situation of healthcare in the country has been aggravated by continuing attacks on medical facilities. From the start of the conflict on 15 till 25 May, the World Health Organization (WHO) verified 45 attacks on healthcare, which led to eight deaths and 18 injuries, the agency’s spokesperson Tarik Jašarević said.
He also cited reports of military occupation of hospitals and medical supplies warehouses, which made it impossible for people in need to access chronic disease medicines or malaria treatment. Mr. Jašarević recalled that attacks on healthcare are a violation of international humanitarian law and must stop.
Keep borders open: Grandi
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, concluded a three-day visit to Egypt on Tuesday, with an urgent call for support for people fleeing Sudan – and the countries hosting them – insisting that the borders must remain open.
More than 170,000 people have entered Egypt since the conflict started – many through Qoustul, a border crossing that Grandi visited close to the end of his trip. The country hosts around half of the more than 345,000 people who have recently fled Sudan.
Mr. Grandi met newly arrived refugees and Egyptian border officials, to get a sense of the hardships being endured.
Loss ‘on a huge scale’
“I heard harrowing experiences: loss of life and property on a huge scale,” Grandi said. “People spoke of risky and expensive journeys to arrive here to safety. Many families have been torn apart. They are traumatized and urgently need our protection and support.“
The UNHCR chief also held talks with the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, and discussed how best to support refugees and mobilize resources for host countries, not least Egypt.
“I commend Egypt for its long-standing commitment to providing a safe haven to those fleeing violence,” Mr. Grandi said. “The Government, the Egyptian Red Cresent and the people, have been very generous in supporting arrivals. We urgently need to mobilize more resources to help them to maintain this generosity.”
Prior to this conflict, Egypt was already host to a large refugee population of 300,000 people from 55 different nationalities.
After registering with UNHCR, refugees and asylum-seekers have access to a wide range of services including health and education. UNHCR’s emergency cash assistance programme started during the last week.
This article first appeared in UN News.
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Story
26 May 2023
Sudan: UN and partners scramble to supply aid amid fragile ceasefire
The UN and humanitarian partners are mobilizing to reach as many people as possible while the stuttering ceasefire between warring military factions is being respected, said the UN Spokesperson on Thursday.
Stéphane Dujarric told correspondents at the regular noon briefing that the opportunity to provide services and support to the millions of Sudanese who are suffering due to the six weeks of fighting between national army forces and their powerful rival militia, the RSF, was only feasible in areas where the ceasefire holds.
Relative calm has prevailed since the truce was reached between the feuding generals, in Jeddah, a week ago, but news reports suggest that flare ups in recent days are threating the continuation of the United States and Saudi-monitored ceasefire.
Aid trucks en route
“The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that some 20 trucks carrying supplies from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are now on their way to different parts of Sudan today”, he said.
Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) has reached more than 500,000 people in nine states with food and nutrition support since restarting distributions about three weeks ago.
“WFP is also planning distributions in Central Darfur and Northern State. Yesterday, trucks loaded with food aid arrived in Wadi Halfa, and today in Port Sudan, WFP started providing food to some 4,000 new arrivals”, Mr. Dujarric continued.
According to UN agencies, six newborn babies died at a hospital in the city of Eld’aeen in East Darfur in just one week, due to problems including lack of oxygen amid electricity blackouts.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said that more than 30 newborns have died at the hospital since the start of the fighting, Mr. Dujarric continued. WHO is in touch with healthcare providers to see what it can do to support, he said.
Half the population needs aid
An estimated 24.7 million people, or half the population, require urgent humanitarian assistance and protection, according to the UN’s top humanitarian official in the country, Abdou Dieng.
Mr. Dieng noted in a statement published late on Wednesday that this number had risen by 57 per cent since the beginning of the year.
He said that aid partners have provided food for over 500,000 people in the country since the beginning of May, in addition to supplying water, healthcare and hygiene support to hundreds of thousands of displaced people, whenever access was possible.
Mr. Dieng reiterated humanitarians are ready to deliver assistance to over four million in need and called on the relevant authorities to allow aid workers to move supplies “swiftly and safely”.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that more than two-thirds of hospitals are out of service because of fighting in Sudan, while in areas that did not see fighting, medical facilities are running low on supplies and staff, fuel, oxygen and blood bank services.
Rape, sexual violence
The UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, also highlighted her grave concern on Wednesday over multiple reports of sexual violence against women and girls, including allegations of rape, by combatants on both sides.
“I am very alarmed by emerging reports of sexual violence in different parts of Sudan and urge all parties to the conflict to comply with international human rights and humanitarian law, and in particular, to guarantee immediate and complete cessation of all violence against civilians, including sexual violence, as per their respective commitments” made in ceasefire terms.
She said it was “imperative that unfettered access to services is guaranteed by all parties”, calling on them to instantly “issue strict command orders that prohibit sexual violence, directed at their own forces as well as groups and individuals fighting on their side or under their command, and put in place mechanisms to adequately monitor the conduct of all armed elements they control”, she added.
This article first appeared in UN News.
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Press Release
06 March 2024
Sudan’s war risks creating the world’s largest hunger crisis, warns WFP Chief
“The war in Sudan risks triggering the world’s largest hunger crisis,” warned the Executive Director. “20 years ago, Darfur was the world’s largest hunger crisis and the world rallied to respond. But today, the people of Sudan have been forgotten. Millions of lives and the peace and stability of an entire region are at stake.”Over 25 million people across Sudan, South Sudan, and Chad are trapped in a spiral of deteriorating food security. WFP is unable to get sufficient emergency food assistance to desperate communities in Sudan who are trapped by fighting because of the relentless violence and interference by the warring parties. Right now, 90 per cent of people facing emergency levels of hunger in Sudan are stuck in areas that are largely inaccessible to WFP.Humanitarian assistance has been further disrupted after authorities revoked permissions for cross-border truck convoys, forcing WFP to halt its operations from Chad into Darfur. Over one million people in West and Central Darfur had received WFP assistance via this life-line route since August, and WFP was in the process of scaling up to support that number each month as hunger and malnutrition continue to skyrocket in Darfur.Meanwhile, more and more people flee into South Sudan and Chad and the humanitarian response is at breaking point. Executive Director McCain travelled to Renk in eastern South Sudan where almost 600,000 people have crossed from Sudan in the last 10 months. The WFP chief visited the crowded transit camps where families arrive hungry and are met with more hunger.Newly arrived displaced people in South Sudan make up 35 percent of those facing catastrophic levels of hunger – the highest possible level – despite accounting for less than 3 percent of the population. Additionally, one in five children at the transit centres at the main border crossing is malnourished. With current resources, WFP is struggling to keep pace with the significant level of need.“I met mothers and children who have fled for their lives not once, but multiple times, and now hunger is closing in on them,” said the Executive Director. “The consequences of inaction go far beyond a mother unable to feed her child and will shape the region for years to come. Today I am making an urgent plea for the fighting to stop, and that all humanitarian agencies must be allowed to do their life-saving work.”WFP urgently needs unimpeded access in Sudan to address the escalating food insecurity, which will have significant long-term impacts on the region, along with an injection of funding to respond to the spread of the humanitarian crisis to neighbouring countries. Ultimately, a cessation of hostilities and lasting peace is the only way to reverse course and prevent catastrophe.Read more: 'As Sudan’s war rages, fallout spreads'Note to editors:Broadcast quality footage available here.High res photos available here. # # #CONTACTFor more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):Gemma Snowdon, WFP/ Juba, Mob. +211 92 543 0085Deborah Nguyen, WFP/Nairobi, Mob. +254 734 554 021Annabel Symington, WFP/ Rome, Mob. +39 342 188 4921Nina Valente, WFP/ London, Mob. +44 (0)796 8008 474Martin Rentsch, WFP/Berlin, Mob +49 160 99 26 17 30Shaza Moghraby, WFP/New York, Mob. + 1 929 289 9867Steve Taravella, WFP/ Washington, Mob. +1 202 770 5993
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Press Release
29 February 2024
Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General - on Sudan
The Secretary-General reiterates his deep appreciation to all international and national UNITAMS personnel for their dedication and service to the people of Sudan throughout the Mission’s mandate.A small team will remain in Port Sudan to oversee the Mission's liquidation process, beginning on 1 March. The Secretary-General counts on the full cooperation of the Sudanese authorities to ensure this process is completed as smoothly and swiftly as possible.The conflict that continues to rage in Sudan is further eroding the rule of law and protection of civilians, as well as jeopardizing the entire country and region. The Secretary-General calls on the conflict parties to lay down their weapons and commit to broad-based peace talks that lead to the resumption of a civilian-led democratic transition.The United Nations is not leaving Sudan. It remains strongly committed to providing lifesaving humanitarian assistance and supporting the Sudanese people in their aspirations for a peaceful and secure future.The Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, has commenced his work in support of mediation efforts, in coordination and close partnership with African and other international partners. These mediation efforts will complement the ongoing essential work of the United Nations Country Team on the ground, which includes providing lifesaving humanitarian assistance. Continued international support in that regard is of critical importance. The Secretary-General calls on the Sudanese authorities to continue their cooperation, including through facilitating the timely issuance of entry visas and the unhindered movement of United Nations personnel and partners in the country to deliver this much needed support. Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-GeneralNew York, 28 February 2024
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Press Release
27 February 2024
Horrific violations and abuses as fighting spreads - report
GENEVA – The armed conflict in Sudan has resulted in thousands of civilians killed, millions displaced, property looted, and children conscripted, as fighting has spread to more regions of the country, says a wide-ranging report from the UN Human Rights Office.The report details multiple indiscriminate attacks by both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in densely populated areas, including sites sheltering internally displaced people - particularly in the capital Khartoum, as well as in Kordorfan and Darfur - during fighting between April and December 2023.“For nearly a year now, accounts coming out of Sudan have been of death, suffering and despair, as the senseless conflict and human rights violations and abuses have persisted with no end in sight,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.“This report makes for yet more painful reading on the tragedy being needlessly inflicted on the Sudanese people since April 2023, but also underlines once more the dire need to end the fighting and to break the cycle of impunity that gave rise to this conflict in the first place. The guns must be silenced, and civilians must be protected. A credible re-start of inclusive talks to restore civilian-led government is desperately needed to open a path forward,” he said.Just this week, credible video evidence reviewed by the UN Human Rights Office shows that several students travelling by road in North Kordofan State may have been beheaded by men in SAF uniform in El-Obeid City – the victims seen as being RSF supporters based on their perceived ethnicity. The video footage which was posted on social media on 15 February shows troops parading with decapitated heads in the street while chanting ethnic slurs.The report is based on interviews with 303 victims and witnesses, including dozens conducted in Ethiopia and eastern Chad, as well as analysis of photographs, videos, and satellite imagery and other open source information. It shows that both parties to the conflict used explosive weapons with wide area effects, such as missiles fired from fighter jets, unmanned aerial vehicles, anti-aircraft weapons and artillery shells in densely populated areas.In April, in two separate incidents in Khartoum, eight missiles fired by the SAF resulted in at least 45 civilian deaths. And in June, two artillery shells fired by the RSF hit Libya Souq, a market in Omdurman, killing at least 15 civilians. Later, on 28 September, RSF shells exploded in a bus station in Omdurman leaving at least 10 civilians dead.In Darfur, thousands were killed in RSF attacks, some of which were ethnically motivated. The report finds that between May and November 2023, the RSF and its allied Arab militia carried out at least 10 attacks against civilians in El-Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, killing thousands of people, most of them from the African Masalit ethnic community. There were also killings by the RSF and its allies in the town of Morni and in Ardamata, where at least 87 bodies were buried in a mass grave.By mid-December, more than 6.7 million people had been displaced by the conflict - both within Sudan and into neighbouring countries. This number has since increased to more than eight million.The report reveals that by 15 December 2023, at least 118 people had been subjected to sexual violence, including rape, gang rape and attempted rape, among them 19 children. Many of the rapes, according to the report, were committed by RSF members, in homes and on the streets. One woman was held in a building and repeatedly gangraped over a period of 35 days. Only four victims of sexual violence were willing and able to report to the authorities, owing to stigma, distrust of the justice system, the collapse of the institutions of justice and fear of reprisals, says the report.It cites the “People’s Authority to Support the Sudanese Armed Forces”, a pro-SAF entity, as stating that it had armed 255,000 young men in camps across Sudan. Children were also recruited by the RSF from Arab tribes in Darfur and Kordofan. African ethnic communities, including the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa also reportedly responded to recruitment campaigns by the SAF, the report finds.“Some of these violations would amount to war crimes,” said Türk. “There must be prompt, thorough, effective, transparent, independent and impartial investigations into all allegations of violations and abuses of international human rights and violations of international humanitarian law and those responsible must be brought to justice.”The High Commissioner also called on both parties to the conflict to ensure rapid and unimpeded access to humanitarian aid in all areas under their respective control.Read the full report (Advance unedited version in English)For more information and media requests, please contact: In Geneva
Liz Throssell - + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org
Jeremy Laurence - +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.orgIn Nairobi
Seif Magango - +254 788 343 897 / seif.magango@un.org
Liz Throssell - + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org
Jeremy Laurence - +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.orgIn Nairobi
Seif Magango - +254 788 343 897 / seif.magango@un.org
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Press Release
03 February 2024
WFP calls for urgent, safe access to feed millions in Sudan as fighting rages across the country
The situation in Sudan is dire. Despite WFP's efforts to provide food assistance to millions of people across the country since the war broke out, almost 18 million individuals across the country are currently facing acute hunger (IPC3+).
WFP has repeatedly warned of a looming hunger catastrophe in Sudan and people must be able to access aid immediately to prevent a crisis from becoming a catastrophe. Shockingly, the number of hungry has more than doubled from a year ago, and an estimated five million people are experiencing emergency levels of hunger (IPC phase 4) due to conflict in areas such as Khartoum, Darfur, and Kordofan.
WFP is the logistics backbone of the humanitarian response in Sudan and has ramped up lifesaving assistance in response to the deepening crisis, assisting over 6.5 million people since the war broke out. To reach families in Darfur, WFP established a cross-border route from Chad, through which over 1 million people have received food assistance. Other agencies have also used the route to deliver other much needed support.
However, WFP is currently only able to regularly deliver food assistance to 1 in 10 people facing emergency levels of hunger (IPC phase 4) in Sudan. These people are trapped in conflict hotspots, including Khartoum, Darfur, Kordofan, and now Gezira, and for assistance to reach them humanitarian convoys must be allowed to cross the frontlines. Yet it is becoming nearly impossible for aid agencies to cross due to security threats, enforced roadblocks, and demands for fees and taxation.
“The situation in Sudan today is nothing short of catastrophic. Millions of people are impacted by the conflict. WFP has food in Sudan, but lack of humanitarian access and other unnecessary hurdles are slowing operations and preventing us from getting vital aid to the people who most urgently need our support,” said Eddie Rowe, WFP Sudan Representative and Country Director in Sudan.
A vital humanitarian hub in Gezira state – which previously supported over 800,000 people a month - was engulfed by fighting in December and a key WFP warehouse looted. WFP is trying to obtain security guarantees to resume operations in the area to reach vulnerable families who are now trapped and in urgent need of food assistance.
Over half a million people fled Gezira in December. For many it was the second or third time they have been displaced in this conflict, which has sparked the world's largest displacement crisis. But just 40,000 of the newly displaced have so far received WFP assistance because 70 trucks - carrying enough food to feed half a million people for one month – were stuck in Port Sudan for over two weeks in January waiting for clearances, which were only secured last week. Now, distributions are ongoing in Kassala, Gedaref and Blue Nile states.
Another 31 WFP trucks, which should have been making regular aid deliveries to the Kordofans, Kosti and Wad Madani, have been parked empty and have been unable to leave El Obeid for over three months.
“Every single one our trucks need to be on the road each and every day delivering food to the Sudanese people, who are traumatised and overwhelmed after over nine months of horrifying conflict. Yet life-saving assistance is not reaching those who need it the most, and we are already receiving reports of people dying of starvation,” said Rowe.
“Both parties to this gruesome conflict must look beyond the battlefield and allow aid organisations operate. For that, we need the uninhibited freedom of movement, including across conflict lines, to help people who so desperately need it right now, regardless of where they are,” he warned.
# # #
For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):
Leni Kinzli, WFP/ Sudan, Mob. +254 769602340
Brenda Kariuki, WFP/ Nairobi. Tel, +254 707722104
James Belgrave, WFP/ Rome, Mob. +39 3665294297
Nina Valente, WFP/ London, Mob. +44 (0)796 8008 474
Martin Rentsch, WFP/ Berlin, Mob +49 160 99 26 17 30
Shaza Moghraby, WFP/ New York, Mob. + 1 929 289 9867
Steve Taravella, WFP/ Washington, Mob. +1 202 770 5993
Brenda Kariuki, WFP/ Nairobi. Tel, +254 707722104
James Belgrave, WFP/ Rome, Mob. +39 3665294297
Nina Valente, WFP/ London, Mob. +44 (0)796 8008 474
Martin Rentsch, WFP/ Berlin, Mob +49 160 99 26 17 30
Shaza Moghraby, WFP/ New York, Mob. + 1 929 289 9867
Steve Taravella, WFP/ Washington, Mob. +1 202 770 5993
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Press Release
30 January 2024
Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General – on Abyei
The Secretary-General conveys his deepest condolences to the Government and people of Ghana and Pakistan, and to the families of the deceased civilians.
The Secretary-General condemns the violence and attacks against UNISFA and calls on the Governments of South Sudan and Sudan to swiftly investigate the attacks, with the assistance of UNISFA, and bring the perpetrators to justice.
The Secretary-General reminds all parties that attacks on United Nations peacekeepers may constitute war crimes.
Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General
New York, 29 January 2024
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