UN officials highlight devastating impacts of conflict in Sudan
Officials of the United Nations said the violent conflict in Sudan has caused a humanitarian catastrophe, leaving 24 million people in need of food and other assistance.
The director of operations for the United Nations humanitarian agency, Eden Worsornu and deputy executive director of the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF, Ted Chaiban, who recently returned from Sudan, explained the devastating impacts of the war.
Eden Worsornu emphasised that hotspots such as Khartoum, the capital, as well as the southern Kordofan and western Darfur provinces, “have been shattered by relentless violence.”
According to her, about 4 million people have fled the conflict, braving blistering heat of up to 48 degrees Celsius and threats of attacks, sexual violence, and death.
“Before the war erupted on the 15th of April, Sudan was already grappling with a humanitarian crisis,” Chaiban said. “Now, more than 110 days of brutal fighting have turned the crisis into a catastrophe, threatening the lives and futures of a generation of children and young people who make up over 70% of the population.”
The Associated Press reported that the two officials, who previously worked in Sudan, said ethnic violence has returned to Darfur, where attacks two decades ago by the notorious Janjaweed militias became synonymous with genocide and war crimes.
After the conflict erupted, the U.N. increased its humanitarian appeal to $2.6 billion but had only received $625 million so far.
Sudan borders seven countries including the Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Libya, and Egypt, with the majority of them vulnerable to chaos if the conflict spreads.
The Sudanese Army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has been fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, RSF, led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, since April 15.
The conflict has killed more than 3,000 people and wounded over 6,000 others, according to the government figures released in June.
