Are the People in Darfur Getting Any Help From the UN?

Agencies – Sudan Events

Report

In the past, the United Nations had a strong presence in Darfur through UNAMID, which was established by the Security Council in July 2007. Its mandate included, among other things, the protection of civilians and facilitating the delivery of humanitarian assistance by the UN and other aid organizations.
UNAMID ended its operation on 31 December 2020 and the Government of Sudan took over the responsibility of protecting civilians across the region. It followed a milestone peace agreement reached between the Sudanese authorities and two armed groups in Darfur.
A UN political mission known as UNITAMS was then established to support Sudan for an initial 12-month period during its political transition to democratic rule. That support included the establishment of the Permanent Ceasefire Commission (PCC) which was key to the implementation of the Darfur Track of the Juba Peace Agreement of October 2020 and to preventing a recurrence of political conflict in Darfur.
In December 2023 the UN Security Council decided to terminate the mandate of UNITAMS and begin winding down its operations over a three-month period slated to end on 29 February 2024.
Worryingly, the UN Joint Human Rights Office has recently received credible reports about the existence of at least 13 mass graves in El Geneina in western Darfur, and its surrounding areas, as a result of the RSF and Arab militias’ attacks on civilians, with the majority of these civilians from the Massalit community. These acts, if verified, may constitute war crimes.
The UN says it is particularly worried about conditions in Darfur, where babies are dying in hospitals, children and mothers are suffering from severe malnutrition and camps for displaced people have been burned to the ground.
The UN’s Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee told the Security Council, that “sexual and gender-based violence continues, with accusations of sexual violence by Rapid Support Forces personnel, and rape and sexual harassment implicating the Sudanese Armed Forces.”
UN humanitarian agencies left Darfur when the April 2023 conflict broke out and many of their facilities were looted or destroyed. Some have returned on an occasional basis to provide humanitarian relief when the security situation has allowed.
In November, UN partners were able to reach Central Darfur State in a road convoy, which took five days, that brought medical supplies from Kosti, White Nile State, for the first time since the outbreak of fighting.
And the UN Humanitarian Affairs Office (OCHA) reported the arrival of the first cross-border relief to support 185,000 people from Chad to El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.
Many aid workers have been killed in Darfur, while others are working under extremely challenging conditions to support the civilians there.
OCHA says that Sudan represents the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, but the response plan is only 33 per cent funded. The humanitarian office said that without more support “thousands of people will die.”