Sudan War: “Don’t forget Sudan”, UN humanitarian Coordinator Urges

As Sudan’s devastating war nears its second year, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, has issued a stark call for increased global assistance amid rising humanitarian needs, a growing risk of famine, and a severe funding shortfall.

In an exclusive interview with UN News, Ms. Nkweta-Salami described the country’s deteriorating humanitarian landscape and emphasized the need for a “mammoth effort” to meet the escalating crisis.

“The humanitarian situation is catastrophic; we’ve used that adjective many times now. We are almost two years into the conflict, and we hoped to have been able to ensure that we could provide humanitarian assistance comprehensively to those in need.

“We’re still struggling. We don’t have access to all the hotspot areas. We are trying our best to make sure that the resources we have can be moved out as quickly as possible using all the modalities that we have available to us.

“But the displacement is significant, the needs are enormous, and famine has already been identified in some parts of the country. We’re working against the clock to try and prevent it from spreading.

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“So, all in all, I would say that we still need to make a mammoth effort. We still need support from the international community in terms of resources, and we still need greater facilitation by all the armed groups engaged in this conflict”.

“Humanitarian assistance needs to continue in the absence of a political solution to the conflict, in the absence of a ceasefire. We continue to work with the international community, Member States who are engaged in the political discussions and negotiations, to try and use the discussions to facilitate our work through humanitarian pauses and trying to get the armed groups to agree to routes that we could use which would not be subject to attacks, shelling or bombardment.

The conflict, which erupted on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has left Sudan in ruins and triggered the world’s worst displacement crisis. Nearly 12 million people have been forced to flee their homes, both within Sudan and to neighboring countries.

This year, humanitarian agencies are appealing for $4.2 billion to provide life-saving aid to 30 million people.

Despite efforts by the UN and its partners, Ms. Nkweta-Salami admitted the response continues to face major obstacles. “We’re still struggling. We don’t have access to all the hotspot areas,” she said.

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“The needs of the people are significant. They need health services. They need access to water. They need electricity.  But more importantly, they need access to food, medicines, and shelter. And one of the areas that we believe is critical, and perhaps is not readily as visible, is of course protection.

Ms. Nkweta-Salami stressed the critical need for international support and urged armed actors to facilitate aid delivery. “We still need support from the international community in terms of resources, and we still need greater facilitation by all the armed groups engaged in this conflict.

“Humanitarian assistance needs to continue in the absence of a political solution to the conflict, in the absence of a ceasefire.

“We continue to work with the international community, Member States who are engaged in the political discussions and negotiations to try and use the discussions to facilitate our work through humanitarian pauses and trying to get the armed groups to agree to routes that we could use which would not be subject to attacks, shelling or bombardment”.

Even without a ceasefire, the UN is pushing forward. “In the absence of a political solution, we will continue to forge ahead with the humanitarian response,” she said.

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“The needs of the people are significant. They need health services. They need access to water. They need electricity. But more importantly, they need access to food, medicines, and shelter.”

The UN Rep was unequivocal in her criticism of armed groups failing to safeguard non-combatants. “Civilians are bearing the brunt of this conflict, and all armed actors need to abide by international humanitarian law and ensure the protection of civilians: those in the cities and those who want to flee.”

She outlined efforts to deliver aid across conflict lines and through cross-border routes, including operations from Port Sudan to the most affected regions.

“We need to use as many of these options [as possible], keep them open, ensure that we have agreements with all the armed groups so that we can use them to bring assistance at scale and as quickly as possible to the highly impacted areas,” she said.

“We have convoys of food. We also have medicines. We have nutrition supplies. We have supplies to address some of the endemic issues. We’ve had cholera outbreaks. We need to ensure that populations have clean and safe drinking water.”

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As Sudan’s conflict enters its third year, Ms. Nkweta-Salami’s message to the world is clear: “We appeal to the international community not to forget Sudan”.