News and photos released from
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Sunday 30 April 2023 - (SW Ed: yellow highlighting is mine) - full copy:
Sudan: ICRC’s first international shipment of humanitarian aid arrives in Port Sudan
Geneva (ICRC) - Life-saving medical material departed from Amman, Jordan to Port Sudan today as part of emergency operations by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) following the outbreak of conflict in Sudan.
The 8 tonnes of humanitarian cargo includes surgical material to support Sudanese hospitals and volunteers from the Sudan Red Crescent Society (SRCS) who are providing medical care to people wounded in the fighting.
“Health-care workers in Sudan have been doing the impossible, caring for the wounded without water, electricity, and basic medical supplies,” said Patrick Youssef, ICRC’s regional director for Africa. “The logistics needed to bring in supplies amid an active conflict are extremely difficult, and we’re relieved to get this medical material into the country.”
The medical shipment includes anaesthetics, dressings, sutures and other surgical material that can treat thousands of people who may have been wounded by weapons. With hostilities still ongoing, ICRC teams will need guarantees of safe passage from the parties to the conflict to deliver this material to medical facilities in locations with active fighting, such as Khartoum.
Since commercial flights in Sudan were discontinued and civilian airspace became inaccessible, the ICRC has been working to overcome logistical and security challenges to help civilians in need who are trapped in the fighting. Delivering medical supplies to hospitals and helping them restore water and power lines remains its urgent priority.
The ICRC is grateful for the support of the authorities in Jordan -- where the ICRC has a major logistics hub -- who rapidly made an aircraft available to deliver this medical cargo. We also appreciate the cooperation shown by the civilian Sudanese authorities in charge of facilitating the arrival of aircraft with humanitarian goods and personnel on board.
The ICRC is sending a second airplane carrying additional ICRC medical supplies and emergency personnel.
The ICRC reminds the parties to the conflict to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law and to facilitate the work of medical and humanitarian personnel, treat detainees humanely and take all feasible precautions to avoid loss of life among civilians and damage to civilian objects and infrastructure.
Note to editors:
The ICRC has been present in Sudan since 1978 helping people affected by the conflict in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan. The ICRC’s work today, independently or in cooperation the Sudanese Red Crescent Society, includes supporting hospitals and health facilities with equipment and supplies, working with local water authorities on improving people’s access to clean water and supporting the authorities in providing rehabilitation services for people with disabilities.
Media contacts:
Alyona Synenko, ICRC Nairobi,
+254 716 897 265, asynenko@icrc.org
Crystal Wells, ICRC Geneva,
+41 77 963 75 74, cwells@icrc.org
Jessica Moussan ICRC Dubai,
+971 504 254 091, jmoussan@icrc.org
Fatima Sator, ICRC Geneva,
+41 79 848 49 08, fsator@icrc.org
Imene Trabelsi, ICRC Beirut,
+961 3 13 83 53, itrabelsi@icrc.org
Alaa Nayel, ICRC Kuwait,
+965 966 73614, anayel@icrc.org
Matthew Morris, ICRC London,
+44 7753 809471 mmorris@icrc.org
Galina Balzamova, ICRC Moscow,
+7 093 545 3534, gbalzamova@icrc.org
Frédéric Joli, ICRC Paris,
+33 6 20 49 46 30, fjoli@icrc.org
Yuriy Shafarenko, ICRC New York,
+1 917 631 1913, yshafarenko@icrc.org
Elizabeth Shaw, ICRC Washington DC,
+1 202 361 1566, egormanshaw@icrc.org
View original: https://www.icrc.org/en/document/sudan-first-international-shipment-humanitarian-aid-arrives-port-sudan
