UNITED NATIONS, United States: Condemning the inaction of the international community, the United Nations has warned that Sudan is experiencing its worst humanitarian crisis in recent history after nearly a year of civil war.
The conflict between army commander Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, has killed tens of thousands of people since April, causing severe food shortages and the threat of imminent starvation.
“By all measures — the sheer scale of humanitarian needs, the numbers of people displaced and facing hunger — Sudan is one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory,” said director of operations at the UN Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), Edem Wosornu.
“A humanitarian travesty is playing out in Sudan under a veil of international inattention and inaction,” the director was telling the Security Council on Wednesday on behalf of UNOCHA head Martin Griffiths.
“Simply put, we are failing the people of Sudan,” she said further as she described the population’s “desperation.”
The United States, Sudan’s biggest donor, announced another $47 million in humanitarian aid late Wednesday.
The top US diplomat in charge of refugee affairs, Julieta Valls Noyes announced the news during a meeting with Prime Minister Succes Masra in Chad, saying that aid to neighbouring countries that are hosting Sudanese refugees, including Chad and South Sudan, the poorest country in the world.
According to the United Nations, this conflict has displaced more than 8 million people.
The Security Council earlier this month called for an immediate ceasefire during the holy month of Ramadan and improved access to humanitarian aid.
In total, more than 18 million Sudanese are facing acute food insecurity, a record for the harvest season and 10 million more than this time last year, but 730,000 children in Sudan are believed to be suffering from severe malnutrition.
