The UN Secretary-General’s spokesperson on Tuesday revealed that 20 percent of Sudan’s population has been displaced by the ongoing war between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Stéphane Dujarric who was briefing the press in New York said the war which erupted on 15 April 2023 has created a tragic humanitarian situation in the country.
“We have reached another grim milestone. Our colleagues at the International Organization for Migration (IOM) now say more than 10 million men, women and children have been displaced since the fighting broke out in April of last year. This means that 20 percent of Sudan’s population – that is one in five people living in the country – have been forced to flee in the span of just 15 months,” he said. “The majority of those displaced are inside the country – that is almost eight million human beings – and over half of those are children. Meanwhile, more than two million people have crossed into neighboring countries, countries that often are facing their own humanitarian challenges.”
Dujarric added: “The humanitarian community in Sudan is doing everything possible to scale up assistance for people in need – including those who have fled the fighting.”
He said that the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) announced the delivery of relief items for 2,000 displaced and vulnerable families in East Darfur on Tuesday and that over the weekend, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced the delivery of food assistance for more than 120,000 internally displaced people in South Kordofan.
“However, aid organizations in Sudan continue to face major challenges, including the ongoing insecurity, access constraints, and funding shortfalls,” the Secretary-General’s spokesperson stated. “Although the funding for this year’s Humanitarian Response Plan has increased over the past week, we are still at just 30 percent of funding more than halfway through the year, with $820 million so far received in cash of the $2.7 billion that is needed.”
“We urgently appeal to those who have pledged to turn those pledges into cash, and those who have not pledged to turn in pledges and cash,” he appealed.