By Mamer Abraham
United Nations has disclosed that 24.7 million Sudanese are in dire need of humanitarian assistance as a result of the ongoing conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, said the repercussions of the conflict include the massive displacement of over 5.4 million people and the outbreak of disease six months after the conflict started.
“Half of Sudan’s population—24.7 million people—now requires humanitarian assistance and protection… displacement and disease outbreaks now “threaten to consume the entire country,” she said in a statement published on the UN Website.
The UN representative in Sudan said the conflict in Sudan had birthed the fastest-growing displacement crisis, posing challenges to the response to the urgent needs of vulnerable people.
She continued that an estimated 30,000 civilians flee the conflict every day with empty hands and some without clothes.
“I’ve met mothers in Sudan who’ve told me they don’t know where to find the next meal for their children. I’ve met families sleeping in makeshift shelters, struggling to find food and water, and unable to access healthcare; their children are out of school and the family breadwinners are out of work,” she continued.
She pledged that the UN would strive to provide all it could to ensure that lifesaving aid is delivered to the hard-to-reach areas of Sudan.
Since the conflict in Sudan started on April 15, efforts to mediate by the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through the Jeddah initiative and the IGAD Quartet mediation process have so far grown cold.
The Sudanese government had on several occasions protested the face-to-face dialogue led by Kenya’s president, William Samoei Ruto, claiming that Kenya was harboring rebels, an accusation Kenya downplays as false and unfounded.
The chairperson of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, showed interest in the mediation process, only if it is led by President Salva Kiir Mayardit.
However, over two weeks ago, the national minister for information, Michael Makuei Lueth, stated that the president was willing to mediate, but the Sudanese warring parties must first choose the right approach for South Sudan to lead the process.
Makuei said the country stood by the IGAD decision to have President Ruto as the head of the IGAD Quartet until IGAD made up its mind again.