A year of war in Sudan: a colossal humanitarian catastrophe that displaced 8 million people

In one of the worst global crises of recent decades, Sudan faces a colossal man-made catastrophe a year after the start of war between the government-led Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (FAR). Urgently enabling safe access to humanitarian aid is a matter of life and death for millions of people. Ahead of next Monday’s meeting of governments, humanitarian organizations and donors in Paris to discuss ways to improve the delivery of humanitarian aid, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) urgently calls for an immediate intensification of the humanitarian response.

Millions of people are in danger, but the world turns a blind eye to the parties in conflict intentionally blocking humanitarian access and the delivery of aid. The United Nations and Member States must redouble their efforts to negotiate safe and unimpeded access and step up the humanitarian response to prevent this already desperate situation from deteriorating further.

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“The Sudanese population is suffering enormously due to intense fighting – including shelling, artillery fire and ground operations in urban residential areas and villages – as the health system and basic services have collapsed or been damaged by the warring parties. Only 20% to 30% of health centers remain operational in Sudanwhich means that the availability of healthcare for the population is extremely limited across the country”says Jean Stowell, MSF general coordinator in Sudan.

In areas close to hostilities, rescue teams MSF They treated women, men, and children directly injured in combat, such as shrapnel, explosions, gunshot wounds, and stray bullets. Since April 2023, medical structures supported by MSF have received more than 22,800 cases of traumatic injuries and performed more than 4,600 surgical interventions, many of them related to violence that occurred in Khartoum It is Darfur. In Wad Madani, a town surrounded by three active fronts, MSF currently treats 200 patients a month with violence-related injuries.

The MSF-supported Bashair hospital in southern Khartoum received more than 60 injured patients and 43 deaths after an explosion in a market on 10 September 2023. (Marie Burton/MSF). (Maria Burton/)

According to the UN, More than eight million people have already been forced to abandon their homes and have been displaced on several occasions, and an estimated 25 million – half the country’s population – are in need of humanitarian assistance. “Every day we see patients who die from violence-related injuries, children who die from malnutrition and lack of vaccinations, women with complications after unsafe births, patients who have suffered sexual violence, and people with chronic illnesses who do not have access to their medicines” Stowell . continued. “Despite all this, there is an extremely worrying humanitarian void.”

Although MSF works in good cooperation with the Ministry of Health, The Government of Sudan has persistently and deliberately obstructed access to humanitarian aidespecially to areas outside its control: it systematically denied travel permits to humanitarian personnel and supplies to cross the front, restricted the use of border crossings, and established a highly restrictive process for obtaining humanitarian visas.

“Today, our biggest challenge is the shortage of medical supplies. We ran out of surgical material and “We are about to stop all work if supplies don’t arrive.”, says Ibrahim*, an MSF doctor who works in Khartoum, a city that has been under lockdown for six months. A similar situation has been affecting the city of Wad Madani since January.

In areas controlled by DISTANTwhere many different militias and armed groups also operate, Health facilities and warehouses were frequently looted in the early months of the conflict. Incidents such as vehicle hijackings continue to occur regularly and medical workers, especially from the Ministry of Health, have been harassed and detained.

In difficult to access areas, such as DarfurJ.Artum or Al Jazzera, MSF is often the only or one of the few international humanitarian organizations present, even though needs far exceed its ability to respond. Even in more accessible areas such as White Nile, Blue Nile, Kassala and Gadarif, the overall response is negligible: a drop in the ocean.

Fighting in Khartoum has intensified significantly. (MSF).

One example is the catastrophic malnutrition crisis in Zamzam camp, in North Darfur, where WFP has not distributed food since May 2023. Almost a quarter (23%) of children examined by MSF in a rapid assessment in January suffered from acute malnutrition.; 7% were serious cases. 40% of pregnant and lactating women suffered from malnutrition and the death rate in the camp was devastating: 2.5 deaths per 10,000 people per day.

“The situation in Sudan was already very fragile before the war and now it has become catastrophic. In many of the areas where MSF began emergency activities, we have not seen the return of the international humanitarian organizations that were initially evacuated in April.,” says Ozan Agbas, director of MSF Emergency Operations in Sudan.

Khadija Mohammad Abakkar, who had to flee her home in Zalingei, central Darfur, in search of safety, tells how difficult it was to survive without humanitarian aid: “During the fighting, there was no access to healthcare or food in the camp. “I sold my belongings to earn some money to eat.”

Although these are difficult conditions to operate in, the response should have increased, not decreased, especially in areas where access is possible. It is urgent that all actors and humanitarian organizations redouble their efforts find solutions to these problems and expand activities throughout the country.

“The United Nations and its partners have persisted in self-imposing restrictions on access to these regions and, as a result, have not even pre-positioned themselves to intervene or establish teams on the ground when opportunities arise.”Agbas continues.

MSF calls on parties to the conflict to that adhere to international humanitarian law and the humanitarian resolutions of the Declaration of Jeddah, create mechanisms to protect the civilian population and ensure safe access for humanitarian aid to all areas of the Sudan without exception, including the end of lockdowns. MSF also calls on the UN to demonstrate more leadership in the face of this enormous crisis and focus on clear results related to increased access, in order to actively contribute to enabling a rapid and massive increase in humanitarian aid. MSF also calls on donors to increase funding for the humanitarian response in Sudan.

*Name changed to protect person’s identity

Source: Elcomercio