Juba, 01 January, 2024 / 9:45 pm (ACI Africa).
Catholic Bishops in Sudan and South Sudan are urging the United Nations (UN), the governments of the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Norway, also referred to as Troika, and other members of the international community to go on with their respective efforts to end the ongoing violence in Sudan.
In a collective statement on the situation in Sudan, where war broke out on 15 April 2023 between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), members of the Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SCBC) also urge the UN and Troika to continue offering “necessary support” to those affected by the violence.
“With this statement, we would like to appeal to the International Community, the Troika, and the UN not to sit back,” SCBC members says, and urge the highlighted entities to continue the “responsibility of working towards addressing the crisis and providing the necessary support to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the Sudan.”
In a December 20 report, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) indicates that Sudan has “the world’s largest displacement crisis”, with over 7.1 million displaced since the start of the war.
“More than 1.5 million people have fled to neighbouring countries, a staggering number in a country reeling from conflict, food insecurity, and economic collapse,” the report further indicates, and quotes IOM Director General, Amy Pope, as saying, “For over eight months, the people of Sudan have been forced to endure the brutal realities of conflict. Their lives have been shattered, their families torn apart, and their dreams of a peaceful future lie in ruins. Continued violence would further devastate the country and destabilize the region.”
