The world’s largest humanitarian crisis: Another year of Sudan failing to pass the test

Three years after the outbreak of war, nearly 34 million people – about two out of every three people in Sudan – are in need of humanitarian support, making it the largest humanitarian crisis in the world.

Mr. Fletcher explained that hunger is intensifying in the country as the lean season approaches, and that children are suffering from severe malnutrition and are deprived of education, while women and girls face systematic and brutal sexual violence, and millions have been displaced from their homes.

Tom Fletcher said in a press release: “We need immediate action now to stop the violence, protect civilians, ensure access to the most vulnerable communities, and fund response efforts.”

““Don’t let it be a forgotten crisis.”

Fletcher’s statement came on the eve of an international conference in Berlin – hosted by Germany, the African Union, the European Union, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States – which is expected to witness a large attendance at the UN and international levels.

For his part, Ross Smith, Director of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Department at the World Food Programme, said that the crisis in Sudan is worsening “with no end in sight,” noting that parts of the country have witnessed two years of famine, which is important. “Totally unacceptable in this day and age.”

Speaking to reporters in Geneva via a call from Rome, Smith said: “Millions of Sudanese are stuck in a bitter daily struggle to secure food, safety, and a minimum of human dignity. Families have exhausted all their available coping and resilience mechanisms. Parents deprive themselves of meals so that their children can eat, while the children go to bed hungry.”

He added that humanitarian workers are being targeted by parties to the conflict, yet they continue to perform their duties. This year, the program succeeded in reaching 3.5 million people per month with food and nutrition support – two-thirds of the beneficiaries were in the Darfur and Kordofan regions, where famine was confirmed and the fiercest battles were taking place.

Ross noted that the crisis in Sudan does not occur in isolation from its regional and international context, but rather is “dangerously exacerbated by the broader global instability and the recent escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.”

And he said: “It is clear that political will and funding have not kept pace with the realities on the ground in Sudan. Our message is simple and urgent: do not let Sudan become a forgotten emergency; and do not allow global crises elsewhere to overshadow the suffering of millions of Sudanese families.”

Women’s courage and leadership

Speaking from Berlin, Anna Mutavati, UN Women’s Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, said that the conflict in Sudan is… “In essence, a war on women and girls.” who they face “Large-scale killings, mass displacement, and what is most specific and dangerous is that the use of sexual violence has become an integral part of the basic plan of this war.”

She stressed that there is no safety under the conditions of displacement, which has further exposed women and girls to violence, including rape, kidnapping, and murder. Warning that the rate of sexual violence is still on the rise within the country.

She said: “Sexual violence is used as a war tactic to instill terror, inflict humiliation and pain on women and girls, and control them, as well as target and oppress entire communities. There are documented cases of rape committed in full view of family members, often combined with other forms of severe physical abuse, as well as violence against those who attempted to intervene.”

Motavati noted that many women and girls are living in conditions that “are becoming increasingly inadequate to ensure survival,” as they lack access to food, shelter, and medical care.

It quoted a humanitarian worker in West Kordofan State as saying: “In the Babanusa area, we have a medical center consisting of only two rooms; one is designated for childbirth, and the other is for medical consultations. However, most women arrive at the medical center dead, due to the distance and difficulty of reaching it.”

Despite this horrific situation, she emphasized that Sudanese women are standing on the front lines to provide life-saving support to other women within their communities. Women-led organizations run community kitchens, provide support to survivors, and help displaced families find shelter, while simultaneously spearheading local peace efforts and countering hate speech, she said. However, she noted that these efforts are under severe pressure due to a severe lack of funding.

Motavati concluded her speech by saying that it should be clear to everyone that no recovery can be achieved as long as… “Women remain forgotten and excluded, and suffer from a lack of funding allocated to support them. Therefore, the international community must act now to scale up its response to match the courage and leadership shown by women in Sudan.”

An amount equivalent to the life of a child

For her part, Eva Hinds, Head of Communications at UNICEF Sudan, said that as the war enters its fourth year, the reality that children are experiencing “It gets darker by the hour.” Speaking from Port Sudan, she reported that 245 children had been killed during the first three months of this year – most of them in the Darfur and Kordofan regions, representing a sharp increase compared to the same period last year.

Hinds pointed out that hunger and diseases are worsening and increasingly widespread among children, as it is expected that 4.2 million children around Sudan will face acute malnutrition, including 825,000 children. “They will suffer from severe acute malnutrition, a condition that could be fatal unless urgent treatment is available.”

Moreover, half of the school buildings are out of operation – many of them either sheltering for displaced families or occupied by armed parties – depriving 8 million children of their right to education.

Hinds said that UNICEF needs $962.9 million this year to reach 7.9 million children throughout Sudan with life-saving aid, noting that the organization has so far received only 16% of this amount.

She added: “If this number seems large, consider this: it is equivalent to about $120 per child. In this time in which we live, it may be useful to compare this amount to the cost of filling a car’s gas tank just once; in Sudan, this amount is equivalent to the life of a child.”

The UNICEF official stressed that protecting children in Sudan is not an option and requires respecting international humanitarian law, ensuring safe and sustainable access to humanitarian aid, and providing the necessary funding. She said: “The cost of failure is already bitterly clear, and children are the ones paying the price.”