In a plea for $4.1 billion on Wednesday, the UN warned that the fighting had caused “epic suffering” and asked for help to be given to residents in war-torn Sudan and those who had fled as refugees.
Approximately 25 million people, or more than half of the nation’s population, are in need of aid and safety as a result of the horrific violence that broke out in April of last year and precipitated a humanitarian crisis.
“Ten months of conflict have robbed the people of Sudan of nearly everything – their safety, their homes and their livelihoods,” United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths said in a statement.
UN analysts estimate that thousands of people have died in the conflict between Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), including between 10,000 and 15,000 in a single city in the western Darfur area.
Additionally, the battle in Sudan is becoming more intense, which has led to widespread hunger and severe food insecurity for about 18 million people.
Meanwhile, the heavy fighting is still causing damage to vital civilian infrastructure, like as water supply networks, and has forced roughly three-quarters of health facilities in states hit by violence out of operation.
In addition, illnesses including malaria, measles, and cholera are rapidly spreading.
The large Zamzam camp for internally displaced people in the western Darfur region is now experiencing at least one child death every two hours due to this and skyrocketing rates of hunger, the organization Doctors Without Borders reported this week.
One of the biggest refugee and protection crises in history has also been brought on by the war, amid copious claims of gender-based abuse.
According to UN estimates, around eight million people have left their homes, including over 1.5 million who have traveled into neighboring nations.
The UN and its partners said they needed $2.7 billion this year to reach 14.7 million people with desperately-needed aid inside the country.
“The generosity of donors helps us provide food and nutrition, shelter, clean water, and education for children, and to fight the scourge of gender-based violence and care for the survivors,” Griffiths said.
“But last year’s appeal was less than half funded. This year, we must do better and with a heightened sense of urgency.”
Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency UNHCR announced that it requires an additional $1.4 billion to assist roughly 2.7 million individuals in five neighboring countries of Sudan, both as refugees and members of their host communities.
