The UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, has called on Sudanese parties to cease fighting, do everything possible to protect civilians, and allow them freedom of movement to continue their daily lives, in order to avert a large-scale humanitarian disaster. She condemned the “random attacks” on civilians in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, which recently resulted in at least 97 casualties.
Clementine Nkweta-Salami expressed profound sadness over these horrific attacks targeting a hospital, residential areas, and a livestock market. She added, “Civil infrastructure should never be targeted and is protected under international humanitarian law.”
According to Nkweta-Salami, the civilians in El Fasher were caught off guard by many of these attacks, while the city had experienced relative calm for approximately two weeks. This calm allowed markets to reopen and many families to resume earning their livelihoods, which is crucial for Sudan to avoid an imminent famine threat, alongside unimpeded humanitarian access and increased funding.
The UN official noted that Sudan is currently facing the worst levels of acute food insecurity in its history, with over half of its population—25.6 million people—suffering from acute hunger. More than 8.5 million people face emergency levels of hunger, while over 755,000 people are living in catastrophic conditions in Greater Darfur, South and North Kordofan, Blue Nile, Gezira, and Khartoum. Since the conflict began in April 2023, more than 18,800 people have been killed and over 33,000 injured, while more than 10 million people have fled their homes, including over five million children.
Despite limited funding and challenging working conditions, humanitarian workers have managed to reach more than 7.1 million people with some form of humanitarian aid between January and May. However, Nkweta-Salami stated that this is not enough and urged donors to urgently intensify their efforts to meet their funding commitments to prevent the widespread risk of famine.
It is worth noting that the humanitarian appeal for Sudan, which seeks to raise $2.7 billion, has only been funded at 32 percent after more than half the year.
