UK CHANNEL 4 NEWS VIDEO FROM CHAD-SUDAN. UK doubles its aid to Sudan to £89m as crisis escalates

Report from Channel 4 News UK
By LINDSEY HILSUM

International Editor for Channel 4 News

Dated Thursday, 28 March 2024 - here is a copy in full:

War and hunger force hundreds of thousands to flee Sudan

The UK is almost doubling its aid to Sudan, to £89 million, as the humanitarian crisis there continues to escalate.

It’s almost a year since Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces turned on each other – plunging the country into war. Millions have been displaced and half the population is facing famine.

The new conflict also re-ignited the two-decade-long war in the Darfur region, with the RSF and allied Arab militia resuming their slaughter of the ethnic African Masalit tribe.

More than half a million people have fled to overcrowded camps in Chad, where food supplies are also dwindling.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW CHANNEL 4 NEWS VIDEO FROM CHAD-SUDAN.

Channel 4 is a British public broadcast service.

Video credits:
Channel 4 News @Channel4News

Reporter: 

@lindseyhilsum

Producer: 

@Zahra_ZW

Camera: Soren Munk

7:52 PM · Mar 28, 2024

Source: https://www.channel4.com/news/war-and-hunger-force-hundreds-of-thousands-to-flee-sudan

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Related

Press release

From Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and

The Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP

Dated Thursday, 28 March 2024 - here is a copy in full:

UK to nearly double aid for Sudan as humanitarian crisis deepens

The UK announced more support for people in Sudan, including funding to UNICEF for emergency food assistance and support for survivors of gender-based violence.

• UK support includes food and water for 500,000 children under 5 as Sudan’s humanitarian crisis grows
• the funding boost comes as the UK’s Development and Africa Minister, Andrew Mitchell visits the Chad-Sudan border, witnessing the crisis first-hand
• the UK again calls on the warring parties to commit to a lasting ceasefire and lift restrictions which are preventing aid reaching those who need it the most

The UK has today implemented additional support for people in Sudan, 1 year on from the start of the conflict.

This will include funding to UNICEF which will provide emergency and life-saving food assistance to support people particularly in hard-to reach areas in Sudan, including nutrition, water and hygiene services for 500,000 children under 5.  It will also support survivors of gender-based violence. The UK is committing an additional £4.95 million to provide 100,000 women and girls with a range of female genital mutilation, child marriage and gender-based violence prevention and response services.

The boost has been announced by the UK Minister for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell, during a 2-day visit to Chad where he visited a site for refugees driven over the border into Chad by the violence.  

In addition, the UK will be working with the World Food Programme to assist over 285,000 beneficiaries for 6 months by providing 13,405 tons of assorted food commodities.  These include cereals, pulses, oils and salt. 

It is part of a £89 million package the UK will deliver in Sudan in 2024 to 2025 – up from nearly £50 million in the current financial year.  

The  conflict in Sudan has caused more than 8 million people to flee their homes, with over 6 million displaced within Sudan itself. After almost a year of conflict, 25 million people in Sudan need assistance, and the country is on the verge of a catastrophic hunger crisis.  The UN has formally warned of the risk of famine in this year, with 18 million currently facing hunger in the country.

Minister for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell, said: 

The conflict in Sudan is devastating lives. Millions are displaced and facing catastrophic hunger conditions. There is growing evidence of atrocities against civilians.

The package announced today will help save lives. We have not forgotten the war in Sudan - nor must the world. The urgent priority is to end the violence.

Whilst in Chad, Minister Mitchell met with the President of the Transition, Mahamat Deby and Prime Minister Masra to underline UK support for peaceful, transparent and inclusive elections. They also discussed how the UK and Chad could work together towards peace in Sudan. 

Photo: Minister for Development and Africa Andrew Mitchell during his visit to Chad, meeting refugees fleeing from violence and hunger in Sudan.

Background

• the UK calls on both sides to end the fighting, to abide by their responsibilities under International Humanitarian Law, to protect civilians and to grant immediate and unrestricted humanitarian access to allow the provision of, and access to, lifesaving assistance
• the UK provided nearly £50 million in ODA funding for Sudan in 2023 to 2024 (including over £42 million in humanitarian assistance) *  for the next financial year (2024 to 2025), overall UK aid to Sudan will increase to £89 million. We have also been helping those fleeing to neighbouring countries as a result of the conflict in Sudan, providing £7.75 million in South Sudan including to support existing and new refugees, and £15 million to Chad over the last year
• the conflict in Sudan began last April when violence erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Tensions between SAF General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) had been escalating for months following disagreements on a transition to a civilian led government
• the humanitarian crisis has been heighted by restrictions to humanitarian access and communications blackouts. More than 700,000 people have crossed from Sudan into eastern Chad, putting pressure on already vulnerable communities and stretched services
• reports of conflict-related sexual violence are widespread cross Sudan. The conflict also risks setting back progress in the fight against female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage
• throughout the conflict the UK aid-funded Sudan Free of FGM project has kept working to protect women and girls. The UK is providing an additional £4.95 million, which aims to support 100,000 additional women and girls with a range of female genital mutilation, child marriage and gender-based violence prevention and response services until March 2026.  This brings the total UK support to £19.95 million. The project has provided over 83,000 consultations for sexual and reproductive health services, helped over 100,000 people with mental health and psychosocial support, supported over 9,000 survivors of FGM, child marriage, and gender-based violence and protected over 11,700 children in child-friendly spaces
• the UK aid-funded Sudan Free of FGM works with communities to alter social attitudes around FGM and child marriage, supports survivors of gender-based violence, and provides sexual and reproductive health care. It is delivered by UNICEF, the World Health Organisation, and the United Nations Population Fund
• Sudan has one of the highest rates of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the world and is one of the few countries where child marriage remains legal. Nearly 9 in 10 women and girls aged 15 to 49 have undergone some form of FGM. 60% of girls are married before they turn 18

Media enquiries

Email newsdesk@fcdo.gov.uk

Telephone 020 7008 3100

Contact the FCDO Communication Team via email (monitored 24 hours a day) in the first instance, and we will respond as soon as possible.

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-to-nearly-double-aid-for-sudan-as-humanitarian-crisis-deepens

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Sudan Watch - March 17, 2024

From Chatham House 

EXPERT COMMENT by Dame Rosalind Marsden March 14, 2024

'Sudan’s forgotten war: A new diplomatic push is needed'

Ali Karti, SG of Sudan’s Islamic Movement, widely seen as a mastermind of Sudan's war, has now announced a truce with RSF will never be accepted

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2024/03/ali-karti-sg-of-sudans-islamic-movement.html

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Troika statement on South Sudan Elections 2024

The Troika (Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States) have reaffirmed their call for peaceful elections in South Sudan. Updated: 20 March 2024

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Famine looms in Sudan war survivors tell of killings

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: The following report by the BBC is not balanced. It is mostly filled with graphic news of violence against males and sexual violence and rape against girls and women in Sudan. Not a word about justice or sexual violence and rape being carried out on boys and men. Why not? The report says sexual violence is a taboo topic in Sudan. It doesn't explain rape is rife in all wars not just in Sudan. "Famine looms in Sudan" says the title but the content does little to educate readers about the reasons for the looming famine and the lack of telecoms and internet connectivity, humanitarian aid and access for aid. The report says nothing new, uses cobbled together news from old reports and uses exploitative photos of vulnerable people. Shame on the BBC for allowing such shoddy reporting on Sudan where babies, children and adults are starving to death and famine looms. What does the BBC expect the readers of this report to learn, I wonder. At the end of the report I have selected and added details of the National Male Survivor Helpline and Online Service run by Safeline. 

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BBC News - 20 March 2024

Famine looms in Sudan as civil war survivors tell of killings and rapes
By Feras Kilani in Sudan & Mercy Juma in Chad

Additional reporting by Peter Ball and Mohamed Ibrahim, verification by Peter Mwai

WARNING: This article contains accounts of physical and sexual violence

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story you can visit BBC Action Line.

National Male Survivor Helpline and Online Service run by Safeline, provides emotional support, advice and information for children and adults who identify as male affected by recent/historic sexual abuse.
Phone: 0808 800 5005
Text: 07860 065187
Webchat available via the website
Visit the Safeline website

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68606201

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Ali Karti, SG of Sudan’s Islamic Movement, widely seen as a mastermind of Sudan's war, has now announced a truce with RSF will never be accepted

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: Dame Rosalind Marsden in the following analysis 'Sudan's forgotten war: A new diplomatic push is needed' says there needs to be a concerted diplomatic push at the highest level: "the aim must be to change the calculations of the generals and counter the influence of hard-line Islamists from the Bashir-era who are blocking negotiations. This requires pressing for a coordinated mediation process to prevent warring parties’ forum-shopping between mediation initiatives; targeting the financial flows and military supplies fuelling the war; and supporting efforts to unify those Sudanese working for the goal of democratic transition."

It is difficult to see why Dame Rosalind is recommending "a coordinated mediation process" as even she says "Ali Karti, the Secretary-General of Sudan’s Islamic Movement, who is widely seen as a mastermind of the war, has now announced that a truce with the RSF will never be accepted." 

Many Sudanese civilians online are saying they don't want Sudan to be led by Gen. Burhan and his Islamist regime nor by Hemeti and his terrorist militia. I've not seen a solution. Maybe the people could join hands in peace.

Note, in her analysis Dame Rosalind rightly publicises the Emergency Response Rooms, aka ERRs, by saying: "Donors will also have to step up to address the spiralling food crisis, by reducing the UN funding gap and supporting grassroots first responders in the Emergency Response Rooms.' 

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From Chatham House

EXPERT COMMENT
By Dame Rosalind Marsden

Associate Fellow, Africa Programme 

Email Rosalind  Twitter

Dated Thursday, 14 March 2024 - here is a copy in full:

Sudan’s forgotten war: A new diplomatic push is needed

After nearly a year of devastating conflict, there is little sign of a ceasefire. Concerted high-level international pressure is needed to change the calculations of the generals and support a democratic transition.

Image — People rally in Wad Madani, Sudan, in December 2023. 

(Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

On 8 March, the UN Security Council adopted a UK-drafted resolution calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Sudan during the month of Ramadan, a sustainable resolution to the conflict through dialogue, compliance with international humanitarian law and unhindered humanitarian access.

Eleven months into the war, this is the first time that the Council has been able to agree on a resolution. The mandate of the UN Panel of Experts that monitors the sanctions regime in Darfur was also renewed by the Council. Does this signify hope that efforts to end the war might gather momentum? Or is Sudan likely to face a protracted conflict?

The war between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) led by General Abdel Fatah Al Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as ‘Hemedti’) is a competition for power and resources between rival factions of the regular armed forces.

But it is also rooted in Sudan’s long history of internal conflict, marginalization of the peripheries and lack of accountability for atrocity crimes. Both the SAF’s officer corps and the RSF are creations of former President Omer al-Bashir’s regime. 

Each has shown disregard for the lives of Sudanese civilians by waging war in densely populated urban areas. The scale of destruction is unprecedented in Sudan’s modern history.

With the world’s attention focused on Gaza and Ukraine, the war receives woefully little high-level political, parliamentary or international media attention, raising serious questions about double standards in dealing with global crises, particularly conflicts in Africa.

A humanitarian catastrophe

Sudan is suffering from a humanitarian disaster, with a looming famine and the world’s biggest displacement crisis: 8 million people are newly displaced inside or outside the country, in addition to over 3 million displaced by previous conflicts.

The head of the World Food Programme has warned that the war risks creating the world’s largest hunger crisis. Yet the UN’s Humanitarian Response Plan for Sudan is only 4 per cent funded.

The conflict has the potential to destabilize already fragile neighbouring countries, create large new migration flows to Europe, and attract extremist groups.

Meanwhile, regional actors are fighting a proxy war in the country, giving military, financial and political support to the warring parties. 

The involvement of Russia and Iran has given the war a geopolitical dimension linked to Putin’s war in Ukraine – partly funded with Sudanese gold – and competition for influence on the Red Sea coast.

Food as a weapon of war

Both RSF and SAF forces have used hunger as a weapon of war. The RSF has looted humanitarian warehouses and besieged cities. 

The SAF-controlled Humanitarian Aid Commission has systematically withheld authorization for crossline movement of life-saving aid to RSF-controlled areas.

One limited outcome from recent international pressure has been the partial reversal of the SAF’s ban on cross-border humanitarian access from Chad into Darfur. The de facto SAF authorities in Port Sudan have agreed to open limited border crossings from Chad and South Sudan. However, MSF International have criticized this as a partial solution at best.

The UN will need to monitor implementation to ensure neutrality in the distribution of aid, while intensifying pressure for unhindered cross-border and crossline humanitarian access.

Donors will also have to step up to address the spiralling food crisis, by reducing the UN funding gap and supporting grassroots first responders in the Emergency Response Rooms.

Growing pressure for a cessation of hostilities

The fact that the UN Secretary-General, the UN Security Council, the African Union, and the League of Arab States joined forces to call for a Ramadan truce, represents a significant increase in pressure on the warring parties.

Nevertheless, Ramadan has started with further fierce fighting. It is unclear how the Security Council expected a truce to take effect without prior diplomatic engagement to agree an implementation and monitoring mechanism. 

Command and control is fragmented on both sides and the warring parties have failed to abide by previous temporary truces negotiated through the Saudi/US-sponsored Jeddah Platform.

Moreover, Sudan’s security state has no history of respecting the month of Ramadan: the current war began during the holy month on 15 April 2023, and peaceful protestors were brutally dispersed in Khartoum on 3 June 2019.

Burhan cautiously commended the Secretary-General’s proposal for a Ramadan truce, but the Islamist-controlled Ministry of Foreign Affairs and SAF’s General Yasir al Atta poured cold water on the idea by announcing a list of preconditions amounting to surrender by the RSF.

8 million

Number of newly displaced people as a result of the war in Sudan.

This response follows a familiar pattern: any indication by Burhan of readiness to negotiate is immediately negated by Islamist elements of the Bashir regime, who hope to return to power on the back of an SAF victory. 

Ali Karti, the Secretary-General of Sudan’s Islamic Movement, who is widely seen as a mastermind of the war, has now announced that a truce with the RSF will never be accepted.

Both sides still seem determined to gain the upper hand militarily. The SAF, hitherto on the back foot, has launched an offensive to regain lost territory in Omdurman and Gezira state, supported by Iranian drones, Islamist militias, the Special Operations Forces of the Bashir-era Intelligence Service, former Darfuri rebels and armed civilians. 

The RSF, whose human rights violations have alienated much of the population, welcomed the UN’s call for a truce, but are also engaged in recruitment, particularly among Arab tribes in Darfur.

The longer the war continues, the greater the risk that it will evolve into a full-scale ethnicized civil war, and that the country will be engulfed by famine.

A concerted diplomatic push

Concerted diplomacy at the highest level is therefore urgently needed. The aim must be to change the calculations of the generals and counter the influence of hard-line Islamists from the Bashir-era who are blocking negotiations.

This requires pressing for a coordinated mediation process to prevent warring parties’ forum-shopping between mediation initiatives; targeting the financial flows and military supplies fuelling the war; and supporting efforts to unify those Sudanese working for the goal of democratic transition.

Civilians are the main victims of the war and should be involved in each stage of any peace process. They, not the generals, should shape Sudan’s post-war transition. Those responsible for atrocities must be held accountable.  

There has been some recent evolution in regional dynamics. Egypt and the UAE, who have been backing opposite sides, co-facilitated RSF/SAF talks in Manama in January, alongside the US, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

There are also signs of a stronger international commitment to active diplomatic engagement. The AU has created a High-Level Panel on Sudan, while the US has appointed a dedicated Special Envoy. The Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General has been empowered by the Security Council to complement and coordinate regional peace efforts.

But a strong push is now needed to silence the guns and push the warring parties to resume talks under the Jeddah Platform, preferably in an expanded format. More visible, high-level political commitment is badly needed, if the conflict in Sudan is not to remain a forgotten war.

This article was produced with support from the Cross-Border Conflict Evidence, Policy and Trends (XCEPT) research programme, funded by UK International Development. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the UK government’s official policies.

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Postscript from Sudan Watch Editor:

Dame Rosalind Marsden was the EU Special Representative for Sudan from September 2010 until October 2013. Before joining the EU, she had a long career in the British diplomatic service, including postings as Consul-General in Basra, British Ambassador to Sudan and British Ambassador to Afghanistan. 

She has also served as Head of the United Nations Department and Director (Asia-Pacific) in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. 

Earlier in her career she served twice in the British Embassy in Tokyo and spent two years on secondment to the private sector, working in the corporate finance department of an investment bank. 

She received her BA in Modern History from Somerville College, Oxford and her D.Phil from St Antony’s College, Oxford.

View original: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2024/03/sudans-forgotten-war-new-diplomatic-push-needed

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Related 

Chatham House - 18 December 2023 

How a transnational approach can better manage the conflict in Sudan

Approaching conflict as a national issue sidelines a complex web of transnational influences and threatens prospects for sustainable peace.

https://www.chathamhouse.org/2023/12/how-transnational-approach-can-better-manage-conflict-sudan

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UN News - 3 February 2024

Youth-led ‘emergency rooms’ shine rays of hope in war-torn Sudan

© ERR Emergency response rooms are finding innovative approaches to providing rapid assistance to millions facing war in Sudan. 

https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/02/1146187

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