UN sending envoy over 'unprecedented' Sudan war fallout
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The UN Secretary-General’s emergency relief coordinator, Martin Griffiths, will be immediately dispatched to Sudan in light of the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis.
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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a press conference in Berlin, Germany, December 17, 2020 (AP)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced on Sunday that he would be dispatching a top United Nations humanitarian official to Sudan due to the rapidly unfolding impact of the war there and its wider fallout.
The announcement comes shortly after rival Sudanese forces announced a new truce extending the previous one which was largely violated.
The latest widely-breached ceasefire was scheduled to formally expire at midnight (2200 GMT) before the rival forces announced an extension for 72 hours that the Sudanese army said came due to "US and Saudi mediation."
Read more: Sudan crisis might spill to neighboring countries: European Commission
"The scale and speed of what is unfolding is unprecedented in Sudan. We are extremely concerned by the immediate as well as long-term impact on all people in Sudan, and the broader region," Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for Guterres, expressed in a statement.
Dujarric confirmed that the UN Secretary-General’s emergency relief coordinator, Martin Griffiths, will be immediately dispatched to the conflict-ridden country "in light of the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis."
- More than 500 people have been killed
- 4,600 people have been wounded
- tens of thousands of people have been displaced
- 75,000 have been internally displaced
- 40,000 were forced into refuge in bordering countries (mostly into Chad but also South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Central African Republic)
The UN World Food Programme has warned that the unrest could plunge millions of locals more into hunger in a country where 15 million people are at risk of famine.
Additionally, the World Health Organization revealed that only 16% of health facilities are functioning in Khartoum: many of which have been shelled in a fire exchange between warring forces.
Read more: Fragile truce: Fighting enters third week in Sudan
ICRC aid shipment arrives by air
In the same context, it was reported on Sunday that medical aid shipments by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were sent from Amman to Port Sudan as part of emergency humanitarian aid operations.
Eight tonnes of humanitarian aid including surgical material were sent to Sudanese hospitals and volunteers from the Sudan Red Crescent Society (SRCS) who are providing medical care to people wounded in the fighting.
"After 14th April, no-one has managed to get medical assistance into the country which is badly needed," pointed out Patrick Youssef, ICRC’s regional director for Africa.
"We were able to fly to Port Sudan from Amman as a medical crew, with supplies to deal with war-wounded, enough to stabilize 1,500 wounded."
Read more: Fragile truce: Fighting enters third week in Sudan
Youssef said that "this medical assistance will hopefully travel quite quickly from Port Sudan and delivered to the hospitals that are in most need."
He stressed that this requires a ceasefire to help quickly facilitate deliveries to hospitals and allow medical personnel to adequately do their job.
It was also promised that the ICRC would "send a second plane carrying additional medical supplies and emergency personnel."
