In view of the suffering of millions of people who have been displaced by conflict, the UN humanitarian head has appealed for swift international action to solve Sudan’s worsening situation.
During a nine-day trip to Sudan and Chad, Tom Fletcher addressed refugees, promising to raise awareness of their predicament and call on the international community to offer more assistance.
“We are not invisible,” he said, relaying a message from those affected.Sudan has been engulfed in war since April 2023, pitting the regular army, led by Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan, against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
The violence has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 11 million people, creating what the United Nations describes as the worst humanitarian crisis in recent history.
During a visit on Friday to El-Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, Fletcher met the region’s governor and heard “heart-rending stories” from refugees fleeing the conflict.
“It is a tough situation out there, the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world. And I’ve been talking to local people to host communities,” Fletcher said, quoted in a UN statement issued late Saturday.
Early in November, UN assistance delivery were extended for three more months, and Fletcher stopped at the Adre gate on the Chadian border before heading to Darfur.
According to Fletcher, Adre is “a lifeline for desperately needed aid to reach people in Sudan” after he spoke with leaders of the host villages in Chad on the border.
“I know that the situation is very, very hard. I know that you need food and medicine and education and shelter and pride and dignity,” Fletcher told refugees in Chad.
Nearly 26 million people — about half the population — face the threat of mass starvation in Sudan as both warring sides have been accused of using hunger as a weapon of war.
“These numbers are staggering, and we cannot turn our backs,” Fletcher said.
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