The Director of Operations and Advocacy of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Edem Wosornu, on Tuesday, while briefing the Security Council on the Humanitarian Situation in Sudan, said the country is descending into unprecedented anarchy.
She said that they have repeatedly warned about the relentless deterioration of conditions for people in most parts of the country and today, “I regret to inform you that Sudan continues to spiral into chaos.”
“Fourteen months of conflict have created a nightmare for civilians in Sudan – with the people of El-Fasher at the epicenter today. Amid unrelenting violence and suffering, the lives of 800,000 people – of women, children and men, of the elderly and people with disabilities – hang in the balance,” Wosornu stated. “Bombing and shelling continue in densely populated areas, causing widespread and long-term harm to civilians and severely disrupting the essential services they depend on. Many Member States noted the devastating effects of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas during this Council’s annual debate on the protection of civilians just four weeks ago.”
According to Médecins Sans Frontières, more than 1,300 people have been injured between 25th May and 6th June in El Fasher.
She said that those who can flee the city have done so and that at least 130,000 people have been displaced since 1 April, mainly south to other parts of Darfur and west into Chad– where resources and basic services are already extremely stretched and, in some cases, non-existent.
According to the OCHA senior staffer, the deplorable assault on the Southern Hospital on 8 June forced patients and staff to flee for their lives, and the hospital was looted and no longer functioning, profoundly impacting people’s access to life-saving medical care.
“What we are witnessing in El-Fasher is the result of unrestrained and indiscriminate violence with little regard for the tremendous misery and suffering caused. Without decisive action now, we risk seeing a repeat of the well-documented atrocities perpetrated in Al-Geneina between late April and early November last year,” Wosornu warned. “Over the past six weeks, we have repeatedly called for civilians to be protected and for this ferocious violence to stop. This Council did the same last week Thursday in Security Council Resolution 2736. These calls must not be ignored.”
“Sadly, the violence in El-Fasher is just the tip of the iceberg and 430 days into this conflict, the level of human suffering in Sudan is intolerable,” she added.
The UN official said indiscriminate bombing continues to blight the daily lives of millions of people in Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum, and Al Jazirah states, killing, injuring, and maiming civilians, and damaging much of the remaining infrastructure.
“Conflict-related sexual violence remains rampant. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has received reports of women and girls being raped and subjected to other forms of gender-based violence as they leave their homes in search of food. According to reports from local women-led organizations, suicide rates among survivors are rising and access to gender-based violence services is shrinking,” she reported. “In addition to the direct toll on civilians, the conflict is also deepening humanitarian needs across the country. Famine is imminent. Almost 5 million people face emergency levels of food insecurity.”
Wosornu added: “Over 2 million people in 41 hunger hotspots are at high risk of slipping into catastrophic hunger in the coming weeks.”
She also reported that women report having to watch their children starve because they cannot feed them while basic services are collapsing in conflict-affected areas.
“As we have warned this Council before, the countdown is real. We have just a few weeks to deliver lifesaving supplies before the rainy season starts and road conditions significantly worsen. Despite some recent improvements, humanitarian operations in Sudan continue to face serious challenges,” she stated. “In conflict hotspots, insecurity, lootings, and sustained access obstructions paralyzed aid operations during the first four months of the year. We acknowledge and appreciate measures by the Sudanese authorities over the past six weeks to facilitate humanitarian operations.”
The OCHA operations chief said that if they are to avert massive loss of life, the facilitation they have seen over the past month and a half needs to be sustained and expanded.
“Six months into the year, the humanitarian appeal is woefully underfunded. We have so far received $441 million in contributions – a measly 16 percent of our total $2.7 billion requirement,” Wosornu conveyed. “In this context, I want to recognize the announcement by the United States last week to provide an additional $315 million for the humanitarian response in Sudan and neighboring countries. Yesterday (Monday), the United Arab Emirates announced the allocation of $70 million of its $100 million pledge in Paris to UN humanitarian agencies.”
“We are in a race against time to avert massive loss of life in this unprecedented protection and food security crisis in Sudan,” she stated.
As you have heard in my statement today – and in our 11 other statements over the past 14 months – we have three key asks.
She asked the Security Council to protect civilians and the infrastructure they need for survival, to ensure unimpeded, sustained, and expanded humanitarian access to people in need; and increased funding for the aid operation.
Wosornu however unequivocally stated that the ultimate ask is for the ongoing horrific conflict to stop.