Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 8th Feb. UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths on Wednesday urged the international community not to forget millions of people caught up in the war between rival militaries in Sudan, as it appealed for $4.1 billion to assist from famine and help those who have fled into neighbouring countries.
Ms. Griffiths told reporters in Geneva “Half of Sudan’s population, 25 million people, needs humanitarian assistance. .
He emphasized that far too many of those in need were children, and that 18 million people were acutely food insecure, after one of the world’s largest displacement and protection crises.
The appeal comprised two key components: the $2.7 billion Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, targeting 14.7 million people within Sudan, and the $1.4 billion Regional Refugee Response Plan, to assist 2.7 million people in five countries surrounding Sudan.
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs will manage the response in Sudan, while the UNHCR will lead the regional initiative, Mr. Griffiths stated.
The escalating conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has expanded to critical regions, including Gezira state, the nation’s breadbasket, heightened concerns of famine.
“If we start seeing famine in Sudan and it won’t be the first time we’ve seen famine in Sudan – to add to the violence, displacement and lack of a political horizon, then I think we can all agree we have no humanity in us that would allow this to happen,” Mr. Griffiths said.
The assessments reveal that 2 out of 3 Sudanese lack access to healthcare, with 19 million children out of school.
Over 13,000 people are feared to have been killed and over 10 million driven from their homes.
UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi held meeting with displaced families in Sudan and Ethiopia, underscored the regional consequences of neglecting the crisis as people who have already fled Sudan now aim for Libya, Tunisia and then Europe
“I have warned literally European countries that if the current neglect of this crisis continues, we will see secondary movements, as we call them,” Mr. Grandi said.
He described how Sudan’s middle class has been largely impacted by the urban devastation, people whose lives were upended from one day to the next.
Grandi reiterated that they are eager to go back home and resume their activities people are becoming more and more wary:
“When you ask people, ‘Would you go back if there was a ceasefire?’, they think carefully about the answer, ‘We would have to be convinced that there is a real peace and that the militia is not going to come into our house and kick us out again’.”
“The message that I passed and will continue to pass to the two [military] leaderships is you’re losing your own people. What’s the purpose of fighting if you don’t have people to rule?” Mr. Grandi added.
