UN relief chief Martin Griffiths releases $10m USD to aid 500,000 people in South Sudan fleeing Sudan war

UN OCHA said the fund would be used to build shelters, offer cash assistance, build water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, and support onward transportation for new arrivals at overcrowded transit sites. 

 

Read more from China View Xinhuanet

By Xinhua Editor: Huaxia

Dated Tuesday, 16 January 2024; 03:45 - here is a copy in full:

UN relief chief releases fund to aid Sudanese refugees in South Sudan

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The UN humanitarian chief released an emergency 10 million U.S. dollars on Monday to aid about 500,000 people in South Sudan fleeing the Sudan war.

UN Undersecretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths allocated the fund from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

"As of today (Monday), about 500,000 people have crossed into South Sudan since mid-April, when Sudan's war started," OCHA said. "In just the past month, more than 60,000 people have arrived in South Sudan, following the outbreak of clashes in and around Wad Medani, Sudan's second-largest city."

The office said thousands more people are expected to arrive in South Sudan over the next six months.

OCHA said the fund would be used to build shelters, offer cash assistance, build water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, and support onward transportation for new arrivals at overcrowded transit sites. 

View original: http://www.chinaview.cn/20240116/963c578e32234e2e81bfb21e4db1af2b/c.html

ENDS 

Agencies consider new aid route into Sudan from S. Sudan as humanitarian crisis worsens, cholera spreads

FIGHTING AND RED TAPE have hampered aid access in Sudan. Hunger and diseases including cholera are spreading. Aid agencies are looking at delivering aid to Sudan on a new route from South Sudan as they struggle to access much of the country. 

The war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has left nearly half of Sudan's 49 million people requiring aid. More than 7.5 million people have fled their homes, making Sudan the biggest displacement crisis globally, and hunger is rising. 

Aid supplies have been looted and humanitarian workers attacked, while international agencies and NGOs have long complained about bureaucratic obstacles to get into the army-controlled hub of Port Sudan and obtain travel permits for access to other parts of the country. Read more.

From Reuters

Reporting by Aidan Lewis

Editing by Christina Fincher

Dated Monday, 15 January 2024, 5:51 PM GMT - here is a copy in full:

Agencies consider new aid route into Sudan as humanitarian crisis worsens

Jan 15 (Reuters) - Aid agencies are looking at delivering aid to Sudan on a new route from South Sudan as they struggle to access much of the country, a senior U.N. official said on Monday, nine months into a war that has caused a major humanitarian crisis.

The war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has left nearly half of Sudan's 49 million people requiring aid. More than 7.5 million people have fled their homes, making Sudan the biggest displacement crisis globally, and hunger is rising.

Aid supplies have been looted and humanitarian workers attacked, while international agencies and NGOs have long complained about bureaucratic obstacles to get into the army-controlled hub of Port Sudan and obtain travel permits for access to other parts of the country.

"There's a very, very difficult operating environment, very hard," Rick Brennan, regional emergencies director for the World Health Organization (WHO), said in a press briefing in Cairo on Monday.

Aid agencies lost access to Wad Madani, a former aid hub in the important El Gezira agricultural region southeast of Khartoum, after the RSF seized it from the army last month.

The RSF's advance into El Gezira state and fighting that erupted recently involving the army, the RSF and Sudan's third-most powerful military force, the SPLM-North, in South Kordofan, have sparked new displacement.

U.N. and other agencies have been largely restricted to operating out of Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast, and delivering aid from Chad into the western region of Darfur, where there have been waves of ethnically-driven killings.

"We're also looking at establishing cross-border operations from South Sudan into the southern parts of the Kordofan states of Sudan," said Brennan.

DISEASE OUTBREAKS

Health services, already badly weakened when the war broke out in mid-April, have been further eroded.

"We have at least six major disease outbreaks, including cholera," said Brennan.

"We've also got outbreaks of measles and dengue fever, of vaccine-derived polio, of malaria and so on. And hunger levels are soaring as well because of the lack of access of food."

Diplomats and aid workers say that the army and officials aligned with it have hampered humanitarian access as both sides pursue their military campaigns. Activists say neighbourhood volunteers have been targeted.

They say the RSF does little to protect aid supplies and workers, and that its troops have been implicated in cases of looting. Read more.

Both sides have denied impeding aid.

The army and the RSF shared power with civilians after a popular uprising in 2019, staged a coup together in 2021, then came to blows over their status in a planned transition towards elections.

U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said in a statement last week that the reasons aid was not getting through were "frankly outrageous".

Customs clearances for supplies coming into the country could take up to 18 days, with further inspections under military supervision that could take even longer, he said.

Photo: A volunteer stirring food to be distributed to people in Omdurman, Sudan, September 3, 2023. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo

Photo: People hold pots as volunteers distribute food in Omdurman, Sudan, September 3, 2023. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo

View original: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/agencies-consider-new-aid-route-into-sudan-humanitarian-crisis-worsens-2024-01-15/

ENDS

Sudan: UN officials say about 25 million persons across Sudan will need humanitarian aid in 2024

More than 500,000 people have fled fighting in and around the state capital, Wad Medani, long a place of refuge for those uprooted by clashes elsewhere. Ongoing mass displacement could also fuel the rapid spread of a cholera outbreak in the state, with more than 1,800 suspected cases reported there so far.

Nearly 25 million people across Sudan will need humanitarian assistance in 2024, “the bleak reality is that intensifying hostilities are putting most of them beyond our reach,” he [UN's Griffiths] said Thursday. Deliveries across conflict lines have ground to a halt. Read more.

From Asharq Al-Awsat English
By Ali Barada Washington
Dated Saturday, 06 January 2024; 1445 AH - here is a copy in full:

UN Relief Coordinator Calls for Immediate Action to Stop War in Sudan

People displaced by the ongoing conflict in Sudan between the army and paramilitaries, queue to receive aid from a charity organisation in Gedaref on December 30, 2023. (Photo by AFP)

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths has called on the international community, especially those whom he said have “influence” on the parties to the conflict in Sudan, to take “decisive and immediate” action to stop the fighting and safeguard humanitarian operations.

Last April, clashes erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led by Abdulfattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces headed by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo following weeks of tension.

Griffiths said in a statement published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Action (OCHA) that nearly nine months of war have tipped Sudan into a downward spiral that only grows more ruinous by the day.

He noted that as the “conflict spreads, human suffering is deepening, humanitarian access is shrinking, and hope is dwindling.”

Nearly 25 million people across Sudan will need humanitarian assistance in 2024, “the bleak reality is that intensifying hostilities are putting most of them beyond our reach,” he said Thursday.

- Serious threat 

He said that hostilities reached the “country’s breadbasket” in al-Jazirah State, putting more of the population “at stake.”

More than 500,000 people have fled fighting in and around the state capital, Wad Medani, long a place of refuge for those uprooted by clashes elsewhere.

Ongoing mass displacement could also fuel the rapid spread of a cholera outbreak in the state, with more than 1,800 suspected cases reported there so far.

“The same horrific abuses that have defined this war in other hotspots – Khartoum, Darfur, and Kordofan – are now being reported in Wad Medani.”

Accounts of widespread human rights violations, including sexual violence, “remind us that the parties to this conflict are still failing to uphold their commitments to protect civilians.”

Given Wad Medani’s significance as a hub for relief operations, the fighting there – and looting of humanitarian warehouses and supplies – “is a body blow to our efforts to deliver food, water, health care, and other critical aid,” Griffiths pointed out.

- Regional stability

Top UN officials reported that about 25 million persons across Sudan will need humanitarian aid in 2024. However, the intensified hostilities make it more difficult for them to reach the aid.

Deliveries across conflict lines have ground to a halt. The cross-border aid operation from Chad continues to serve as a lifeline for people in Darfur, and efforts to deliver elsewhere are increasingly under threat.

Griffiths also warned that the escalating violence in Sudan is also imperiling regional stability.

The war has unleashed the world’s largest displacement crisis, uprooting the lives of more than 7 million people, some 1.4 million of whom have crossed into neighboring countries that already host large refugee populations.

View original: 

https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/4772561-un-relief-coordinator-calls-immediate-action-stop-war-sudan

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Sudan: State of emergency & curfew declared in Wad Madani, Aj Jazirah 15 Dec due to SAF & RSF fighting

UN OCHA Flash Update No: 02 

Dated Saturday, 16 December 2023. Full copy:

Clashes in Wad Medani between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF)

SITUATION OVERVIEW

Fighting broke out in the morning of 15 December between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the outskirts of Wad Madani located in Aj Jazirah State 136 km southeast of the capital Khartoum. Airstrikes were reported on 15 and 16 December in the western, northern and eastern parts of Wad Madani and in the vicinity of Alsharfa Barakat village north of the town. Sporadic shootings were heard on 15 and 16 December in various areas in Wad Madani. Clashes remain ongoing. Panic is reportedly growing among the civilians in the town and people have been seen leaving on foot. The situation remains tense and unpredictable.

According to the International Organization for Migration’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), approximately 14,000 - 15,000 people have been displaced from Madani Al Kubra locality. Affected residents have sought refuge in neighborhoods westward of Wad Madani town, as well as other locations in Aj Jazirah, and towards Sennar and Gedaref states. Displacement has also taken place into Gedaref State with the arrival of approximately 1,500 IDPs in Al Fao locality, approximately 3,000 IDPs in Madeinat Al Gedaref and approximately 250 IDPs in Ar Rahad locality.

Shops and markets remain closed since 15 December in Wad Madani. Hantoob bridge in Wad Madani is partially closed by SAF as a security measure.

The local authorities announced a state of emergency and introduced a curfew in Wad Madani (from 1800hrs to 0600hrs) effective 15 December 2023 until further notice.

Wad Madani has served as a hub for humanitarian operations since fighting broke out in April this year between SAF and RSF. Humanitarian organizations have reduced their footprint in Wad Madani due to the security situation. Staff have relocated to neighboring states to be positioned to return to address the increased humanitarian caseload once the situation permits.  A suspension of all humanitarian field missions within and from Aj Jazirah State has been put in place as of 15 December until further notice.

Background

After years of protracted crisis, Sudan plunged into a conflict of alarming scale in mid-April 2023 when fighting between SAF and RSF, broke out initially in the capital Khartoum on April 15, and quickly expanded to other areas across the country. Khartoum has been the site of heavy fighting, while severe violent clashes and heavy bombardments have also been reported in the greater Darfur and Kordofan regions. The hostilities have resulted in extensive damage to critical infrastructure and facilities, including water and healthcare, the collapse of banking and financial services, frequent interruptions to electricity supply and telecommunication services and widespread looting. Since the conflict broke out, humanitarian needs have increased and almost 25 million people now require assistance in Sudan. More than 6.7 million people have been forced to leave their homes in search of safety elsewhere.

An estimated 5.9 million people live in Aj Jazirah State, Sudan’s breadbasket, with 700,000 people living in Wad Madani. More than 270,000 people in the town are in need of humanitarian assistance. Since April 15, nearly 500,000 people fled to Al Jazirah State, 86,400 of those are in Wad Madani. About 1.9 million people are in crisis (IPC 3) and above levels of food security in the state with 179,000 in Madani between October 2023 and February 2024, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). There are 57 humanitarian organizations working in the state, including 25 INGOs, 21 NNGOs and six UN agencies. So far this year humanitarian organizations have reached 730,000 people in the State with food assistance, WASH, health and other humanitarian interventions.
 
***
For more information, please contact: Sofie Karlsson, Head of Communications and Analysis, OCHA Sudan, karlsson2@un.org,
Mob: +249 (0)912 174 456

Download the Flash Update here

View original: https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/sudan-clashes-wad-medani-between-sudanese-armed-forces-saf-and-rapid-support-forces-rsf-flash-update-no-02-16-december-2023

UN OCHA (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs)

To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.

END

UN aid chief proposed warring Sudan parties back a “Declaration of Commitments” for safe delivery of aid

Good luck with this, Mr Griffiths and God speed.

Report from Reuters

By Reuters Staff, reporting by Michelle Nichols

Dated Tuesday 09 May 2023 4:33 PM

UN aid chief proposes warring Sudan parties commit to safe aid access

UNITED NATIONS, May 9 (Reuters) - U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths proposed the warring Sudan parties back a “Declaration of Commitments” to guarantee the safe passage of humanitarian relief,” a U.N. spokesperson said on Tuesday.

“Mr. Griffiths is encouraged that this Declaration has also been consulted upon in the Jeddah talks,” Deputy U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq said.

“He hopes the Declaration can be endorsed as soon as possible so that the relief operation can scale up swiftly and safely to meet the needs of millions of people in Sudan,” Haq told reporters.

View original: https://www.reuters.com/article/sudan-politics-un-aid-idAFS0N35E04I

[Ends]

Sudan: Number of displaced is more than 700,000

The numbers are staggering.

More than 700,000 people have been displaced within #Sudan since the start of the crisis. This number has doubled in the past week.

It's a race against time to provide life-saving assistance to those in need.

The fighting needs to stop now.

— Martin Griffiths (@UNReliefChief) May 9, 2023

Read full story at BBC News
Dated Tuesday 09 May 2023
Sudan crisis: Number of internally displaced rises to more than 700,000:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-65528513

- - -

Report from China View - Xinhua

Editor: huaxia

Dated Wednesday 10 May 2023; 04:28

Sudan displacement doubles to 700,000 in one week: IOM - excerpt:

GENEVA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM), a United Nations (UN) agency, reported on Tuesday that more than 700,000 people have already been internally displaced by the fighting in Sudan. The number was more than doubled in the past week.

IOM spokesperson Paul Dillon said that "last Tuesday, the figure stood at 340,000. Prior to the fighting, an estimated 3.7 million people had already been internally displaced in Sudan."

He said that the number of internally displaced persons increased in several areas, including the capital, where clashes were continuing. "The IOM has stocks of non-food items in six warehouses around the country, but to date the organization has been unable to deliver to those in need."

Full story: http://www.chinaview.cn/20230510/d8ad3e981d064a4f8716c120ac35ffd9/c.html

[Ends]

In virtual meeting with UN aid chiefs & partners, Kenya's president rallies urgent support for Sudan

Thank you, @WilliamsRuto, for your leadership and support for urgent humanitarian action in #Sudan.

We need a strong plan moving forward to prevent the situation from further spiraling. https://t.co/ZAINbsobQn

— Martin Griffiths (@UNReliefChief) May 1, 2023

United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohamed was among UN officials and other leaders who held a meeting with President William Ruto on Monday, May 1, to find a way forward for the Sudan crisis.

A statement from State House noted the high-level meeting, which was chaired by Ruto, was held both virtually and physically.

Ruto gave a report on the progress of conflict resolution in Sudan noting that the warring sides had declined the call of the international communities and leadership to cease fire. He added that the people of Sudan were in need of humanitarian aid noting that they did not have enough supply of food and water.

Further, he stated that the number of people displaced by the war continued to increase at an alarming rate forcing many of them to flee to other countries.

“The humanitarian crisis in Sudan has reached catastrophic levels. The protagonists have declined to heed the calls by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, the African Union and the international community to cease fire.

“Consequently, water, food and medicines are in short supply. Internally, the number of displaced people keeps rising as many more flee to neighbouring countries,” Ruto stated.

Full story here from Kenyans.co.ke:
UN Bosses, Other Leaders Fly to Kenya to Help Ruto Solve Sudan Crisis, Monday 1 May 2023
https://www.kenyans.co.ke/news/88801-un-bosses-other-leaders-fly-kenya-help-ruto-solve-sudan-crisis

IMAGE: A collage image of President William Ruto meeting with other leaders to discuss the war in Sudan on Monday May 1 2023. PCS

UN: Humanitarian crisis in Khartoum & around Sudan

Two weeks since clashes erupted in Khartoum and around Sudan, the humanitarian situation is reaching breaking point.

At the request of ⁦@antonioguterres⁩, I'm on my way to the region to see how we can bring immediate relief to the people impacted. https://t.co/dCE9ekPb0R

— Martin Griffiths (@UNReliefChief) April 30, 2023

UN chief on Afghanistan: "A humanitarian catastrophe looms"

Here is a full copy of a statement issued yesterday (31 Aug) by the head of the United Nations, Mr António Guterres, in a Press Release published at the website of the UN, calling for help on a looming humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Note that:  almost half of the population of Afghanistan - 18 million people - need humanitarian assistance to survive.  One in three Afghans do not know where their next meal will come from.  More than half of all children under five are expected to become acutely malnourished in the next year.  People are losing access to basic goods and services every day.  A humanitarian catastrophe looms.

PRESS RELEASE

SG/SM/20874

TUESDAY 31 AUGUST 2021

SECRETARY-GENERAL

STATEMENTS AND MESSAGES

Secretary-General Calls on Governments to Provide Timely, Flexible Funding for Afghanistan’s People in ‘Darkest Hour of Need’ as Humanitarian Crisis Looms

The following statement by Secretary-General António Guterres was issued today:

On the day Afghanistan enters a new phase, I want to express my grave concern at the deepening humanitarian and economic crisis in the country and the threat of basic services collapsing completely.

Today, almost half of the population of Afghanistan — 18 million people — need humanitarian assistance to survive.  One in three Afghans do not know where their next meal will come from.  More than half of all children under five are expected to become acutely malnourished in the next year.  People are losing access to basic goods and services every day.  A humanitarian catastrophe looms.

Now more than ever, Afghan children, women and men need the support and solidarity of the international community.  The humanitarian system’s commitment to stay and deliver will not waver.  Already this year, we have delivered aid to 8 million people.  In the last fortnight, we delivered food to 80,000 people and relief packages to thousands of displaced families. Yesterday, we airlifted 12.5 metric tons of medical supplies into the country.

Amid a severe drought and with harsh winter conditions on the horizon, extra food, shelter and health supplies must be urgently fast-tracked into the country.  I call on all parties to facilitate safe and unimpeded humanitarian access for life-saving and life-sustaining supplies, as well as for all humanitarian workers — men and women.

Next week, we will release details of the most immediate humanitarian needs and funding requirements over the next four months in a flash appeal for Afghanistan.  Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths is coordinating the entire United Nations system in the preparation of the appeal.

I urge all Member States to dig deep for the people of Afghanistan in their darkest hour of need.  I urge them to provide timely, flexible and comprehensive funding.  I urge them to help ensure humanitarian workers have the funding, access, and legal safeguards they need to stay and deliver.

AFGHANISTAN

For information media. Not an official record.

[Ends]

View Original:  https://www.un.org/press/en/2021/sgsm20874.doc.htm