UN Relief Coordinator: End Sudan Conflict

Sudan Events /Follow-ups

UN relief coordinator Martin Griffiths has called on the international community to take “decisive and immediate action” to end nearly nine months of brutal civil war in Sudan and boost humanitarian relief.
The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator said in a statement on Thursday that as the conflict continues to spread, “human suffering is worsening.” Humanitarian access is shrinking and hope is diminishing.”
He said that an awful turning point had been reached between government forces and their rival Rapid Support Forces militia in the recent fighting in Gezira State, the breadbasket of the country.
At least 500,000 Sudanese civilians have fled the state capital area, which “has long been a place of refuge for those uprooted by clashes elsewhere.”
Griffiths warned that the continued mass exodus also threatens to fuel the rapid spread of cholera there.
He said the same narratives of widespread human rights violations and “horrific abuses” as occurred in the capital, Khartoum, Darfur and Kordofan, earlier in the conflict, were plaguing Wad Medani.
Moreover, he warned, the fighting there and the looting of UN agency warehouses and supplies across what is considered a humanitarian center “represents a major blow to our efforts to deliver food, water, health care and other vital assistance.”
He said that 25 million Sudanese will need assistance this year, but the escalation in fighting may deprive many of life-saving aid.
He warned that “delivery processes across conflict lines have stopped,” and that the violence also threatens regional stability. The war has unleashed the world’s largest displacement crisis, uprooting the lives of seven million people.
He added: “It is now necessary to protect civilians, facilitate humanitarian access, and end the fighting.”