In a grave assessment of the current situation in Sudan, the Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Clementine Nkweta-Salami, highlighted the severe plight facing the Sudanese population.
During a UN press conference, Nkweta-Salami described the situation as a “hellish reality of brutal violence with no end in sight for famine, disease, and fighting.”
The UN envoy cited numerous reports of “recklessly committed atrocities, including widespread rape, torture, and ethnic-based violence.”
She elaborated on the devastating social and familial disruptions, noting that nearly 9 million people have been forced to flee their homes, marking the largest displacement crisis globally.
This month, the UN World Food Program issued a stark warning to the warring factions in Sudan, particularly concerning the potential for widespread famine and death in Darfur and other regions.
The warning emphasized the critical need for humanitarian access to these areas, a sentiment echoed by Nkweta-Salami.
Sudan slid into conflict in mid-April 2023 when long-standing tensions between the military, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), under the command of General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, escalated into urban warfare in Khartoum and subsequently spread to other parts of the country including Darfur.
According to the UN, the conflict has resulted in over 14,000 deaths and 33,000 injuries.
Nkweta-Salami reported that the Rapid Support Forces now control most of Darfur, besieging the key city of Al-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.
She detailed recent hostilities in Al-Fasher, noting that clashes at the end of last week and early this week resulted in numerous casualties and displaced many of the 800,000 still in the city.
With only six weeks until the onset of the lean season, when food becomes scarcer and more expensive, coupled with the rainy season that impedes access due to waterlogged roads, Nkweta-Salami urgently called for increased international funding.
Despite a pledge of $2.1 billion in humanitarian aid for Sudan made on April 15, she lamented that the UN’s humanitarian appeal for $2.7 billion to assist roughly 15 million of the country’s 58 million residents is only 12% funded.
Without additional resources, she warned, the UN will not be able to expand operations in time to avert famine.
