News

Sudan in catastrophic humanitarian crisis after one year of conflict

A child walks past a grocery store in the market of the Adre refugee camp, on April 10, 2024. (Photo: Joris Bolomey/AFP)

By Mwangi Maina | Friday, May 24, 2024

This catastrophe threatens to escalate into the world's most severe hunger emergency.

One year on since the conflict in Sudan began the country faces a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

Millions of people in Sudan are living through a nightmare since a power struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces plunged the country into a devastating war in April last year – splitting the nation.

Keep reading

25 million people need humanitarian assistance – 14 million of these are children.

Over 8.6 million people have been displaced, of whom 1.7 million have fled to neighbouring countries, this includes refugees who had previously sought safety in Sudan.

Ethnic cleansing. Killings. Torture and a looming famine.

A Channel 4 News report from Sudan sheds light on the country's grim reality, portraying a looming humanitarian crisis in the oil-rich nation.

This catastrophe threatens to escalate into the world's most severe hunger emergency.

Doctors Without Borders is urging immediate action to tackle escalating challenges in Sudan.

The international humanitarian organisation is actively addressing both communicable and non-communicable diseases, delivering essential maternal and paediatric healthcare services, and responding to alarming levels of malnutrition among children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers.

"For 13 months, people in Sudan have suffered through relentless violence, displacement, and hunger, all while their access to the medical and humanitarian assistance they so desperately require has been systematically strangled. Regrettably, all indicators point to the current crisis only growing broader and deeper, with famine looming and ethnic violence intensifying," said Doctors without Borders in a statement this week.

They report over 70 per cent of medical facilities in conflict-affected areas are no longer operational.

According to WHO, 65 per cent of the population lacks access to health care.

As the conflict spreads to new areas inside Sudan families are constantly on the move, seeking safety.

The high number of people fleeing their homes means that after facing unimaginable trauma, many are enduring overcrowding and poor conditions at displacement camps.

Plan International says it is concerned that schools across Sudan have been closed for a year, with more than 170 school buildings now being used to shelter displaced people. This means that an entire generation – 20 million children – a population the size of Scandinavia is missing out on their right to an education.

The consequences of this conflict will have a devastating impact on the development of children and their mental well-being.

Children out of school are at increased risk of sale, sexual abuse, exploitation, family separation, abduction, trafficking and recruitment and use by armed groups.