Aid staff slams lack of support for Sudan as ‘unapologetically racist'

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: The Guardian
16 Aug 2023 21:48

According to Save the Children, up to 17,000 children a day have been falling into crisis levels of hunger.

A girl at a camp for the internally displaced in Al-Suwar, about 15 kilometers north of Wad Madani, Sudan, on June 22, 2023 (AFP)

Aid organizations are saying they are having difficulty reaching people as a result of the violence that has raged in Sudan for the past four months, which has pushed millions into food insecurity, with an additional 1.5 million children predicted to experience crisis levels of hunger by September.

Save the Children issued a warning on Tuesday that up to 17,000 children a day have been hitting crisis levels of starvation. The charity claimed that more people were experiencing hunger in Sudan than at any other time since records there began in 2012, with 4 million people already displaced.

"It’s impossible to overemphasize the seriousness of the situation in Sudan. This is a desperate, dire crisis for children," said Save the Children's Director in Sudan, Dr. Arif Noor, adding that in conflict places, "if you go to a market, you risk being robbed, shelled, murdered or caught in the crossfire" and "the chances are the shelves are empty" if one gets to that market.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification's most recent study indicates that regions with the worst conflict also have the highest incidence of hunger. According to the IPC, 20.3 million people nationwide, or 42% of Sudan's population, were suffering from severe and acute food insecurity.

In Darfur, where the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been accused of carrying out widespread killings of minority ethnic groups, more than half the population needs immediate assistance.

In the eastern state of El Gedaref, 132 children were reported to have passed away from malnutrition-related illnesses, according to the Sudanese broadcaster Radio Dabanga.

Sorghum, millet, and wheat prices are already high, but shortages are likely to get worse as farmers are driven off their land by war.

In an open letter published this week, representatives of the humanitarian sector demanded an immediate end to hostilities and cautioned the international community that there was "no excuse for waiting" for inaction in putting an end to the violence "as Sudan’s children are wasting away."

Aid workers who are frustrated with the lack of financing and support for humanitarian efforts in Sudan have criticized the lack of attention as "unapologetically racist" in comparison to the response to the war in Ukraine.

Additionally, operations have been constrained by security concerns, which recently compelled the Norwegian Refugee Council to shut down its operations in the Darfur region and the capital city of Khartoum.

According to the Sudan Ingo Forum, which represents 70 assistance organizations active in the nation, at least 120 visas for help workers are awaiting approval. Anthony Neal, its organizer, reported that at least 15 of those pending since June were for surgeons, pharmacists, and anesthetists. He said travel limitations applied to everyone, even those with visas.

He noted that although Sudanese employees had been essential to maintaining services, the option to hire more foreign employees was necessary to expand the response.

"Long-term, without the ability to increase capacity and expertise, the current highly limited efforts are unsustainable," said Neal.

The Turkish hospital in Khartoum, one of the very few in the city still offering round-the-clock care, is supported by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which stated this compromised its capacity to do so. MSF is also waiting on visas for its workers.

"If we cannot bring in new staff, we will be forced to withdraw from the hospital," MSF said. "This will have a devastating impact on the people who remain in Khartoum, who will need lifesaving healthcare over the coming months."