UN agencies warn of worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan

Geneva: Officials from United Nations (UN) agencies and international organisations warned about the scale of the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, where two years of armed conflict have plunged the country into what they called a “humanitarian crisis of industrial proportions.”

Famine is spreading rapidly, and civilians continue to face grave abuses including rape, torture, and extrajudicial killings.

At a regular press briefing in Geneva, Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the crisis shows no signs of abating.

“With no viable peace in sight, the Sudanese are trapped in a humanitarian crisis of industrial proportions,” he said.

“Two out of three people need aid – that’s 30 million people. This, of course, demands a massive ramp-up of international support. What we see instead is donors pulling back funding across the world.”

Olga Sarrado, spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said Sudan is now facing the world’s most severe displacement crisis.

She noted that nearly 13 million people have been displaced by the conflict, with about 4 million fleeing to neighbouring countries.

Inside Sudan, internally displaced persons (IDPs) are struggling to access clean drinking water, while refugee camps in countries like South Sudan, Chad, and Uganda are severely overcrowded, leaving women and children especially vulnerable.

Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said High Commissioner Volker Turk had condemned the warring parties for carrying out a “wholesale assault on human rights.”

Shamdasani stressed that sexual violence remains widespread, with women and girls continuing to suffer rape and exploitation.

Li Fung, OHCHR’s representative in Sudan, speaking via video link, warned of escalating violence and growing threats to civilian safety. Refugees in Chad have provided harrowing accounts of atrocities including rape, torture, and extrajudicial killings.

Leni Kinzli, World Food Programme (WFP) communications officer for Sudan, said the conflict has now created the largest hunger crisis in the world. “Famine continues to spread, and 25 million people – nearly half the population – are facing hunger,” she said.

Shible Sahbani, the World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in Sudan, said the war has pushed the country into an unprecedented health emergency, with violence, displacement, hunger, disease, and death overwhelming communities. He noted that 20.3 million people – over 40 per cent of Sudan’s population – urgently need health services. Malnutrition is widespread, with 3.7 million people requiring immediate nutritional support.

Sofia Calltorp, director of UN Women in Geneva and chief of humanitarian action, described Sudan as the world’s worst humanitarian emergency for women and girls. More than 6 million displaced women and girls are facing daily threats to their safety and survival, she said, adding that gender-based and sexual violence has surged, alongside a sharp rise in maternal mortality, Xinhua news agency reported.

Sudan has been engulfed in conflict since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, cited by the UN, the conflict has claimed at least 29,683 lives.

–IANS