2023-10-13 09:30:00
Geneva (ICRC) – Six months after the outbreak of the armed conflict in Sudan, I feel pain and frustration.
This tragedy has caused the displacement of more than five million people and countless deaths among the civilian population. The brutal violence has left deep scars in homes and communities. Faced with all this, we have not been able to provide sufficient assistance to respond to the immense needs of the population. Many Sudanese feel angry and abandoned as relief supplies are not enough to alleviate their suffering.
Since the beginning of the fighting, we have witnessed the incredible courage and dedication of Sudanese doctors and engineers, Red Crescent volunteers and ordinary citizens who have worked to provide essential services despite trauma and hardship.
From the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), we manage to cross the front lines and bring vital assistance, as well as organize the evacuation or facilitate the release of hundreds of vulnerable people, such as children and detainees. However, we must do much more.
When I look at the harsh reality in Sudan today, I see women, children and elderly people whose towns and villages have been looted or destroyed, and who lack food, clean water and medical care. I see a war raging in the streets and suburbs of a city that was once home to five million people. Faced with a humanitarian emergency of such magnitude, we cannot waste time on long debates or administrative obstacles.
Humanitarian activities must be facilitated and administrative formalities simplified: not only is this the right thing to do, but it is also an obligation established by international humanitarian law. A few months ago, in Jeddah, the parties publicly declared their commitment to abide by the rules. We now urge that this commitment be translated into concrete and practical measures.
One of the promises of the Jeddah declaration and the only way for life-saving assistance to reach where it is needed is to adopt simple and expeditious administrative procedures for humanitarian activities.
In our efforts to increase assistance in the face of access difficulties and reduced humanitarian funding, we must not forget the vulnerable communities in the border areas of neighboring countries, who are suffering the most from the refugee crisis and who come sharing the few resources they have.
We will continue to do everything in our power to assist the people of Sudan, who have suffered immensely over the past six months. Furthermore, we urge all States and actors with influence on the parties to the conflict to facilitate the tasks of the humanitarian community and help us reach the people who need our assistance.
Media Contacts:
Adnan Hezam, CICR, Sudan, tel.: +967 733 721 659, [email protected]
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