Sudan: seven keys to a “humanitarian crisis of epic proportions”

More than 12,000 dead, more than eight million displaced, some 18 million people suffering from hunger and 25 million in need of humanitarian aid.

The civil war that began in Sudan on April 15, 2023, with the confrontation between the national Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has unleashed a human catastrophe that has already turned this country of northeast Africa in the largest internally displaced persons crisis in the world and is leading it to the “largest hunger crisis,” according to the World Food Program (WFP).

The consequences of the war in a State somewhat larger than the combined size of Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Germany “will also cause disruption” throughout the region.

The neighboring countries, already at the limit of their capacities, have had to shelter nearly two million people fleeing the war, explains Mohammed Qazilbash, general director of Plan International Sudan, during a visit to Madrid.

These are the keys to a conflict that, according to the United Nations, has caused a “humanitarian crisis of epic proportions”:

1. The “greatest hunger crisis”

Some five million Sudanese, 10.4% of a population of 48 million, are in an emergency situation or phase 4 of the so-called Integrated Phase Classification (ICF, in Spanish, IPC, in English), the tool that measures food insecurity worldwide.

It is the level prior to the declaration of famine or phase 5. In addition, almost 13 million are in phase 3 or emergency, which means that about 18 million people (around 37%) are hungry in Sudan.

The executive director of the WFP, Cindy McCain, warned at the beginning of the month that the war in the country could trigger “the largest hunger crisis in the world.”

The conflict has directly affected food production, which had already been compromised by the drought that is plaguing North Africa.

But also, “with so many millions of people displaced, farmers have not been able to plant the seeds,” explains Qazilbash.

And even if they had tried, "the agricultural sector in Sudan is heavily subsidized by the Government, which finances inputs such as fertilizers, but with the collapse of the Executive all these subsidies have disappeared."

One in eight internally displaced people in the world is Sudanese

“Food can still be found in markets, but it is simply unaffordable for most households, due in part to an ongoing telecommunications blackout that prevents families from receiving much-needed cash transfers,” he explains in a statement. Jill Lawler, UNICEF's head of field and emergency operations in Sudan, who visited the country in early March.

“There is nothing, no internet, no banks or money,” confirms the Sudanese artist Eltayeb Dawelbait, exiled in Kenya during a visit to Madrid, where he is participating in an exhibition, after trying unsuccessfully for months to send money to his relatives who remain in Sudan.

2. Almost four million malnourished children and 19 million out of school

According to UNICEF estimates, at least 3.7 million children will suffer from “acute malnutrition this year” in Sudan.

“I have seen malnourished children in a hospital and their caregivers in total darkness due to power outages,” explains Jill Lawler, after her trip to Sudan.

“Malnutrition in children under five years of age is especially worrying because if at that age the adequate level of nutrition for their mental and physical development is not maintained, when they become adults they may have physical and intellectual consequences,” Qazilbash denounces.

“How do you build a nation that has an intellectually and physically committed future?” asks the director of Plan International in Sudan.

Furthermore, the humanitarian worker continues, “for almost a year the schools have been closed, which means that 19 million children are out of school.”

“It is another of the catastrophes,” he points out.

3. The largest number of internally displaced people

More than eight million people have been forced to leave their homes in Sudan since the civil war began on April 15, 2023, according to UN data.

Of them, some two million Sudanese have sought refuge in bordering countries.

The six million who have been displaced within the country join another three million from previous conflicts, who have not been able to return due to the continuous worsening of security.

“One in eight internally displaced people in the world is Sudanese,” says the UN, making the country the “largest internally displaced persons crisis in the world.”

“The civil war has caused a massive displacement of people and, in any displacement, the most affected are women and children,” warns Qazilbash.

With four million displaced minors, “it is also the global crisis that has caused the highest level of child displacement,” he laments.

4. A regional contagion

Of the almost two million Sudanese who have fled the country, 37% have taken refuge in Chad, 30% in South Sudan and 25% in Egypt, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

“This is not a crisis in Sudan, but a regional crisis, and although Sudan is the epicenter, all the surrounding countries are facing aftershocks,” explains Qazilbash.

And he adds: “Before this crisis, Chad, for example, was not very prosperous, it was a poor country with many internal and external problems, and now it has more than half a million Sudanese living on its eastern border.”

For this reason, according to Qazilbash, “not only do we have to cover the needs within the country, but we also have to deal with all emergency situations of externally displaced people.”

Mohammed Qazilbash, general director of Plan International Sudan, on March 13 in Madrid. JUAN BARBOSA

5. Murders, rapes and looting

“The human rights situation remains out of control in Sudan,” warn UN sources.

“Thousands of civilians have been killed, millions displaced, properties looted and children recruited,” adds the latest report on the situation in the African country in which the UN states that “some of these violations would amount to war crimes.”

There is special concern in the Darfur region (west of the country), where according to the UN access for humanitarian aid has not been possible for months.

“Thousands of people died in RSF attacks, some of them for ethnic reasons,” say sources from the organization.

6. The collapse of health services

Hostilities during almost a year of war “have left more than 25% of all hospitals out of operation” while “the main national laboratory” has been taken over by combatants, explain sources from the Regional Directorate of the World Health Organization. Health (WHO) in Sudan.

The high number of displaced people, together with the collapse of health services, “have caused outbreaks of diseases such as cholera, measles, malaria and dengue fever,” according to the same institution.

At the Alnau hospital in Omdurman (next to the capital Khartoum), “we saw two, sometimes three patients sharing a bed,” says Lawler.

As confirmed by the director of this hospital to Unicef, “in the last month alone they had amputated limbs of about 300 people.”

A member of the Sudanese Army, on March 9 in Omdurman.El Tayeb Siddig (REUTERS)

“The exhaustion of the workers, many of whom practically live in the hospital without receiving their salaries, is palpable, as is the frustration over the lack of supplies, equipment and space,” says the head of Unicef ​​operations in Sudan.

7. Humanitarian aid, “a drop in the ocean”

More than 25 million people, including 14 million children, need humanitarian assistance in the country, according to UN data.

“Humanitarian aid is entering Sudan, but on a scale too small to serve the millions of Sudanese living in refugee camps or in their own homes,” says Qazilbash.

“Just to cover food needs, thousands of tons of food would be needed, so if one or two trucks arrive a day, humanitarian aid is a drop in the ocean,” continues the humanitarian worker, who calls for a “cessation of hostilities” so that the arrival of aid is effective.

The UN has raised 5% of the €2.5 billion needed to cover the basic food and health needs of Sudanese affected by the conflict

The 2024 humanitarian response plan for Sudan of the United Nations Organization for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has so far raised 5% of the estimated $2.7 billion (2.5 billion euros) needed to meet the needs for food, healthcare, cash and other forms of life-saving assistance throughout this year.

Although much less arrives than what is needed, it is very difficult to introduce this aid into the country.

The UN confirms that “access to humanitarian aid is limited by the complex dynamics of the conflict, which includes the constant shifting of frontlines as fighting spreads to new areas.”

“Aid convoys face threats, road blockages, restrictions and bureaucratic impediments, which makes the expansion of WFP aid extremely difficult,” consider sources from the international organization, who also demand “freedom of movement across borders.” and conflict lines to reach all vulnerable communities, regardless of where they are located.”

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