“Together with the 3.8 million internally displaced persons from past internal conflict, Sudan currently faces the largest internal displacement crisis in the world and the most significant child displacement crisis, with more than 3 million children displaced inside and outside the country,” say CI officials.
CI officials further say that the outbreak of diseases including cholera “are compounding the impact on the population, two-thirds of whom lack access to healthcare.”
“In all, some 24.8 million people – almost one half of Sudan’s total population of 51 million – are in need of humanitarian assistance,” they say.
They note that finances remain a major challenge in providing humanitarian aid to the people affected by the yearlong violence that started when fighting erupted between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary force under General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and army units of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) that are loyal to the head of Sudan's transitional governing Sovereign Council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
“Despite this catastrophic situation, the funding coverage for the UN humanitarian response appeal for Sudan is currently only 7%. The 2024 Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan also urgently requires $1.4 billion to continue critical life-saving interventions and protection to 2.7 million refugees, returnees, and host communities in five neighboring countries,” they say and appeal for more funds to support humanitarian efforts in the country.
“Comparing the vast scale of need and the under-funding of the response compared to other major crises, the Pledging Conference must unlock new and additional resources, and prioritize working through diaspora and partnership-based agencies that can get these to local frontline responders,” they say.
CI officials also call for “much more assertive and coordinated international engagement in seeking increased humanitarian access (including facilitation of cross-border operations from Chad and South Sudan), diplomatic solutions to achieve an urgent ceasefire, and an end to a conflict that has now created the world’s largest hunger crisis in 2024.”
“We urge the international community not to abandon the people of Sudan, despite the focus on conflicts elsewhere,” CI officials say.
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