PARIS (AP) – A yearlong war in Sudan has devastated the country and pushed its people to the brink of famine. Top diplomats and aid groups met yesterday in Paris, France to drum up humanitarian support for the northeastern African nation to prevent further collapse and misery.
Sudan descended into conflict in April last year when simmering tensions between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum and elsewhere across the country.
The United Nations (UN) humanitarian campaign needs some USD2.7 billion this year to get food, health care and other supplies to 24 million people in Sudan – nearly half its population of 51 million. So far, funders have given only USD145 million, about five per cent, according to the UN’s humanitarian office, known as UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The United States (US) and Saudi Arabia initially led efforts to find a negotiated way out of the conflict. But the efforts didn’t succeed, and since October the fighting has been overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, which is threatening to expand to a broader regional conflict.
Relief workers, meanwhile, warn that Sudan is hurtling towards an even larger-scale calamity of starvation, with potential mass death in the coming months.
Food production and distribution networks have broken down and aid agencies are unable to reach the worst-stricken regions.
The conflict has also been marked by widespread reports of atrocities including killings and displacement, particularly in the area of the capital and the western region of Darfur.
At least 37 per cent of the population at crisis level or above suffer from hunger, according to OCHA. Save the Children warned that about 230,000 children, pregnant women and new-born mothers could die of malnutrition in the coming months.
Nearly nine million people have been forced to flee their homes either to safer areas inside Sudan or to neighbouring countries, according to the UN.
