United Kingdom is on a "war footing". New UK Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa and Red Sea appointed

On April 24, 2024 the BBC reported that many of the front pages declare that the UK is on a "war footing" after Rishi Sunak's announcement of an extra £75bn for defence over the next six years. 

The Telegraph says there will be a focus on hypersonic missiles, lasers, anti-tank rockets and artillery shells. Writing in the paper, the chief of the defence staff - Admiral Sir Tony Radakin - said the investment was a sign that Britain had lost none of her famous resolve.

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New UK Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa and Red Sea appointed

Alison Blackburne is the UK’s Special Envoy for the Red Sea and Horn of Africa, starting in this role in May 2024. Alison was the British Ambassador to South Sudan from April 2017 to May 2019, and before that British High Commissioner to Uganda from August 2012 to November 2016.

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HERE is a full copy of Africa Press Release

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Government of UK
Dated Thursday, 9 May 2024 

New United Kingdom Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa and Red Sea appointed: Alison Blackburne

Alison Blackburne has been appointed UK Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa and Red Sea. She takes up the role with experience in a wide range of diplomatic roles in the UK and overseas, including previously serving as the British High Commissioner to Uganda and British Ambassador to South Sudan. 

The UK Envoy’s role is to lead the UK response to international activity in the Horn of Africa region, engaging with key actors.

Deputy Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell said: The UK is committed to building our long-term partnerships in the Horn of Africa, wider East Africa and across the Gulf. Our relationship tackles a range of issues, from humanitarian crises to trade, investment, and regional security.  

It’s been a critical year for the region, from a devastating conflict in Sudan, to attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and building our trade links in the Gulf. 

Alison will bring invaluable knowledge and experience to the role, and I am confident she will grow our diplomatic relationships in the coming years.

UK Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa and Red Sea Alison Blackburne said: The Horn of Africa is a dynamic region, and the UK remains focussed on working with partners to bring peace, stability, and prosperity for its people.

We are committed to tackling the key issues which affect communities across the region.  These include conflict and instability, humanitarian crises, climate change and food insecurity, as well as the challenges and opportunities of regional economic cooperation and trade and investment. 

 It is a privilege to accept this position, and I look forward to working with our international partners at such a crucial time.

View original:  https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/africa-press-releases/new-united-kingdom-special-envoy-to-the-horn-of-africa-and-red-sea-appointed-alison-blackburne-s3nghnzc

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VIDEO: Sky's Yousra Elbagir visits Omdurman, Sudan

HERE is footage posted to X by Sky News (@SkyNews) February 13, 2024. It shows Sky's reporter @YousraElbagir treading through debris in an empty street with ruins on each side in Omdurman where Sudan's largest street market was destroyed. She reached the city in a battered armoured vehicle. 

Omdurman in Khartoum State is Sudan's most populous city. It is approximately 11 kilometres, a 15 minutes drive, from the country's capital Khartoum. Gunshots can be heard in the background of the video. 

Since fighting broke out last April, Port Sudan is for now the capital of Sudan. Port Sudan is a city and port on the Red Sea in eastern Sudan, and the capital of Red Sea State. Port Sudan is Sudan's main seaport and the source of 90% of the country's international trade. Read more at Wikipedia.

Sky's @YousraElbagir is in Omdurman, Sudan's most populous city.

Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Defence Forces has destroyed the nation's largest street market - but the area isn't totally secure yet.https://t.co/OXBz6WA89g pic.twitter.com/FsVbCsI8iy

— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 13, 2024

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Article by Africa correspondent @YousraElbagir 
Tuesday, 13 Feb 2024, 03:30, UK - here is a copy in full excluding photos:

Destruction of Sudan's most iconic street market is a massacre of memory and communal life

Africa correspondent Yousra Elbagir gives her personal reflections on what has happened to Sudan's famous street market through this year's conflict.

Souq Omdurman was the beating heart of our mother city. It was a traders' paradise, a meeting point and a lifeline.

A market where more than money exchanged hands. Agreements, ideas and jokes were yelled across its avenues and as visitors passed through, they were either beckoned into the shops or scoffed at for interrupting the banter.

Every trip was an excursion.

My friends and I went for the silver, antique records and leather. Our mothers went for spices, kitchenware and gold. Their mothers went for that and more, and their mothers before them too.

Our grandmothers and great-grandmothers went for different goods in a different era but at the same market with the same streets at the same iconic spot.

"All our memories are in Souq Omdurman. Our entire childhood was in Souq Omdurman - then we got older and bought our wedding things from there too," my mother tells me on the phone from Cairo.

She lost her home in Khartoum overnight and now, the home of her founding moments.

After standing for more than a century, the market has been desecrated and destroyed.

Looted and pillaged by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the early days of the war and then shelled, punctured with bullets and burnt to black in their ensuing battles with the army.

The cupboards of the gold shops were still open when we arrived. An emptied ring tray flattened on the ammunition-covered ashen ground.

At the corner facing the bullet-hole-ridden bus stop, the front of a wedding shop is littered with broken incense holders in traditional Sudanese scarlet synonymous with brides.

A nearby unexploded mortar round sat slanted on the debris and an upside-down fuschia couch blocked the road with dystopian absurdity.

It was there that I wept - out of disbelief and grief - as gunfire rang out a few hundred metres away.

Sounds, sights and smells I would never attach to this place had assaulted my senses all at once.

The loss is generational. Livelihoods and legacies shattered like the store-front glass.

An agony felt most by the shop owners and residents that once lined the streets, radiating outwards to all that walked them.

The heart of our city has stopped beating. The veins have emptied and the pulse has flatlined.

The destruction of Souq Omdurman is a massacre of memory and communal life. A casualty that even peace will struggle to restore.

View original including photos:

https://news.sky.com/story/destruction-of-sudans-largest-street-market-is-a-massacre-of-memory-and-communal-life-13070430

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Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps Departs for S. Sudan

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: Any attack on a peacekeeper constitutes a war crime. Sadly, the bodies of two UN peacekeepers, one from Ghana and the other from Pakistan, were flown home from South Sudan last week. I have documented news of hundreds of peacekeepers being murdered in Sudan and South Sudan. They gave their lives to protect a thankless lot. 

Sudanis and aid orgs on social media are demanding the international community to help. It is time they pressure African leaders and African Union for help. To paraphrase the previous prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno Ocampo: the international community is like a unicorn, everyone knows what a unicorn looks like but it doesn't exist.   

Over the last 60-70+ years, millions of people outside Africa have reached out to help those in Africa less fortunate than themselves. I guess there has come a time when many of those who are still alive couldn't be more disappointed in South Sudan after all the hard work, goodwill and money freely given to help them on their feet. Money to pay for aid, protection and organisations such as the United Nations and the ICC comes from the pockets of hardworking taxpayers in developed countries across the world. 

Sudan and South Sudan have had enough time to get their house in order. The world will not forget them but can't afford to subsidise them forever. Time marches on, the world changes. Russia is at war with Ukraine. Israel is at war with Gaza. The US, UK and French navies are stationed in the Red Sea to protect trade routes. Europe has war at its door. The US has bigger fish to fry. The UK is in the crosshairs of Russia. Foreign aid budgets will need to be cut and illegal migrants stamped out. Sudan and South Sudan are rich enough to pay their own way and look after their own. Tough love is in order.

From News First
Written by Staff Writer    
Dated Tuesday, 06 February 2024, 2:16 PM - here is a copy in full:

Army Medical Corps Departs for South Sudan

COLOMBO (News 1st); The 10th contingent of the Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps (SLAMC) departed Sri Lanka early this morning (06 February), to assume duties at the Level-2 SRIMED Hospital in the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

The 10th South Sudan bound contingent, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel D.M.D.J Dissanayake RSP USP and Second in Command, Major N.I Rathnayake, comprises 64 Army personnel, including 14 Army Officers, 01 Naval Officer and 49 Other Ranks.

Representing the Commander of the Army, Major General P.A.C. Fernando USP, Colonel Commandant, SLAMC and Director General Army Health Services, Brigadier G.L.S.W Liyanage USP psc, Director, Directorate of Overseas Operations, Brigadier W.A.U.S Wanasekara RWP USP, Centre Commandant, SLAMC and other Senior Officers bid farewell to the contingent at the Bandaranaike International Airport.

View original: https://www.newsfirst.lk/2024/02/06/army-medical-corps-departs-for-south-sudan/

Related

FROM AFP NEWS 

Sudan Conflict: $4.1 Billion Needed For Humanitarian Aid In 2024

Wednesday, 7 February 2024

https://www.barrons.com/news/sudan-conflict-4-1-billion-needed-for-humanitarian-aid-in-2024-35f3c888

FROM UN NEWS

UN appeals for $4.1 billion in aid for war-torn Sudan and refugee-hosting countries

Wednesday, 7 February 2024

The United Nations on Wednesday urged countries not to forget millions of people caught up in the war between rival militaries in Sudan, as it called for $4.1 billion to help stave off famine and help those who have fled into neighbouring countries. “Half of Sudan’s population, 25 million people, needs humanitarian assistance,” Martin Griffiths, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, told journalists in Geneva. 

The appeal comprises two key components: the $2.7 billion Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, targeting 14.7 million people within Sudan, and the $1.4 billion Regional Refugee Response Plan, aimed at assisting 2.7 million people in five countries surrounding Sudan. 

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) will manage the response in Sudan, while the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) will lead the regional initiative. 

Full story: https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/02/1146317

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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/

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Sudan Humanitarian Update (14 January 2024)

HERE is a full copy of an analysis from UN OCHA Sunday, 14 January 2024.

SUDAN Humanitarian Update (14 January 2024)

HIGHLIGHTS

•  More than 7.4 million people have been displaced inside and outside Sudan since fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on 15 April 2023.
 

•  The number of people displaced in Sudan has increased by about 611,000 over the past month, mainly due to the conflict-induced displacement from parts of Aj Jazirah and other states.
 

•  The expansion of fighting between SAF and the RSF into central and eastern Sudan—the country's most important regions for crop production—has driven a significant increase in humanitarian needs during the harvest season, according to FEWS NET.
 

•  Insecurity, looting, bureaucratic impediments, poor network and phone connectivity, lack of cash, and limited technical and humanitarian staff are affecting the delivery of humanitarian aid in many parts of the country.
 

•  The 2024 Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan appeal is 3.1 per cent funded as of 14 January 2024.

Click here for the PDF

Click here to read online

SITUATION OVERVIEW

Almost nine months after the fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted on 15 April 2023 in the capital Khartoum, more than 7.4 million people have fled their homes, taking refuge inside and outside Sudan, with children representing about half of the people displaced. Sudan is now the country with the largest number of displaced people and the largest child displacement crisis in the world. 

According to the International Organization for Migration Displacement Tracking Matrix (IOM DTM) Sudan Weekly Displacement Snapshot (16), more than 6 million people have been displaced within Sudan, increasing by an estimated 611,000 people over the past month mainly due to new displacements from Aj Jazirah and other states since 15 December 2023. IOM DTM reported in its update on Aj Jazirah State displacement that about 509,800 people were displaced by fighting in Aj Jazirah. About 205,500 of them were displaced in other safe locations within Aj Jazirah, and another 304,336 IDPs fled to other states across Sudan, including Gedaref (64,551 IDPs), Sennar (60,000 IDPs), Red Sea (50,035 IDPs), White Nile (40,750 IDPs), River Nile (30,000 IDPs), Kassala (30,000 IDPs), Blue Nile (15,000 IDPs), and Northern (14,000 IDPs) states. 

The 6 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) are sheltering in 6,282 locations across all of Sudan’s 18 states, an increase of 343 locations over the past month. The highest number of IDPs were observed in South Darfur (12 per cent), East Darfur (11 per cent), River Nile (11 per cent), Aj Jazirah (8 per cent), White Nile (8 per cent), and North Darfur (8 per cent). IOM DTM field teams report that the IDPs were originally displaced from 12 states, the majority of whom (about 3.7 million people or 61 per cent of the total displaced) were reportedly displaced from Khartoum State, followed by South Darfur (15 per cent), North Darfur (8 per cent), Aj Jazirah (5 per cent), Central Darfur (4 per cent), West Darfur (3 per cent), and the rest in other six states. In addition, more than 1.4 million people have crossed into neighbouring countries since 15 April 2023, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). 

Expanding conflict and displacement drive even higher needs during the harvest – FEWS NET

The expansion of fighting between the SAF and the RSF into parts of central and eastern Sudan—the country's most important regions for crop production—has driven a significant increase in humanitarian needs during the harvesting season (December and January),reports FEWS NET. This development is expected to lead to considerable deterioration in acute food insecurity in the southeast from what was previously expected, worsening an already dire situation, according to FEWS NET’s Sudan - Food Security Outlook Update. Widespread Crisis (IPC Phase 3) levels of food insecurity are expected across much of the country, with Emergency (IPC Phase 4) outcomes expected in the heavily conflict-affected urban areas of Khartoum, greater Darfur, greater Kordofan, and parts of Blue Nile states. Of highest concern are populations in parts of Khartoum, Ag Geneina, Nyala, Wad Madani, and among the displaced due to the impact of intensive fighting and disruption to humanitarian assistance.

Impact of conflict on civilians

In South Kordofan State, clashes renewed on 7 January between the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement-North (Al-Hilu faction) and SAF against the RSF in Abu Zaid and Al Matar neighbourhoods of Dilling town, South Kordofan State. The incident follows previously reported clashes on 9 December 2023.IOM DTM field teams reported that 2,840 people were displaced and sought refuge in Khamis village in Dilling locality following the clashes, while about 320 newly displaced people arrived in Dibebad town in Al Quoz locality in South Kordofan.

In North Kordofan State, tensions rose on 3 January between the RSF and Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement-North Al-Hilu faction in Broka village of Ar Rahad locality, reports IOM DTM. As a result, about 430 people (86 families) were displaced and are taking refuge in Al Huda, Al Safa, and Al Shati’ neighbourhoods in Ar Rahad Town as well as in Aradeba, Tendalti, Umm Habila and As Sawani villages in Ar Rahad locality. The situation remains tense and unpredictable. There are 137,300 IDPs in North Kordofan State post-April 2023, according to IOM DTM.

On 8 January 2024, armed clashes renewed between the SAF and the RSF in El Obeid town, the capital of North Kordofan State. Clashes were reported in southern neighbourhoods of El Obeid town. While no civilian displacement was reported, the situation on the ground remains tense and unpredictable, IOM DTM reported.

In North Darfur State, clashes between SAF and RSF renewed on 9 January at the Melit checkpoint in Al Fasher Town, Al Fasher locality. IOM Field teams reported that approximately 250 people (50 families) were displaced from Abu Shock and Al Salam IDP camps to neighbourhoods in the west of Al Fasher Town. The situation remains tense and unpredictable.

Almost 9,000 suspected cases of cholera – a 43 per cent increase in one month

Almost 9,000 suspected cases of cholera, including 245 associated deaths, were reported as of 6 January 2024 from 46 localities of nine states, according to the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Sudan Outbreaks Dashboard. This is an increase of about 43 per cent compared to the number of cases reported on 6 December 2023. However, this indicates a downward trend and a much lower increase compared to previous months. Between 6 November – 6 December the number of cases increased by 143 per cent, and between 6 October and 6 November the increase was 175 per cent. During December 2023, oral cholera vaccination campaigns have been organized in Gedaref and Aj Jazirah states, with about 2.2 million people vaccinated. There are 2,746 suspected cases and 95 associated deaths in Red Sea; 2,036 suspected cases of cholera and 50 associated deaths in Gedaref; 1,860 suspected cases and 26 associated deaths in Aj Jazirah; 1,246 suspected cases and 32 associated deaths in White Nile; 525 suspected cases and 26 associated deaths in Khartoum; 346 suspected cases and eight associated deaths in South Kordofan; 121 suspected cases and four associated deaths in Sennar; 99 suspected cases and four associated deaths in Kassala; and three suspected case in Blue Nile State.

Increase in desert locust groups and small bands in December 2023

During December, the first winter generation of locust hatching finished on Sudan’s Red Sea coast from Eritrea to Egypt, according to the most recent Desert Locust Bulletin of the Food and Agriculture Organization. As a result, there was an increase in the number of desert locust hopper groups and small bands during the month. Hopper groups are forming ground or basking groups, with 20 and more adult locusts per 400 m foot transecting or 500 or more locusts per hectare. According to the FAO, in response to environmental stimuli, dense and highly mobile desert locust swarms can form. They are ravenous eaters who consume their own weight per day, targeting food crops and forage. A single square kilometre of swarm can contain up to 80 million adults, with the capacity to consume the same amount of food in one day as 35,000 people. Large swarms pose a major threat to food security and rural livelihoods. In the second week, fledgling and immature groups formed, while a few mature groups were copulating near Karora and the Eritrea border. Hoppers, adults, and some groups were observed in the northeast subcoastal region from Tomala to Sufiya and the Egypt border. Control operations treated 22,677 hectares of land along the coast, of which 3,550 were by air. Hoppers, adults, groups, and very small bands and swarms will continue during January along the Red Sea coast and subcoastal area. A second generation could occur with hatching and hopper groups and bands from the second half of January and new adult groups appearing in early March.

HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE

Various challenges - insecurity, looting, bureaucratic impediments, poor network and phone connectivity, lack of cash, and limited technical and humanitarian staff on the ground – have been affecting the delivery of humanitarian assistance in many parts of the country. Fuel shortages also affect the movement of humanitarian staff and supplies and the generation of power needed for operations (maintaining cold chain storage, supplying water, etc). Despite all these challenges, humanitarian partners continue to provide life-saving assistance to the vulnerable people they can reach. 

Overall, between 15 April and 30 November 2023, 163 humanitarian partners provided about 5.2 million people across Sudan with life-saving assistance according to the latest Humanitarian Response Dashboard. 

For more information on cluster-specific response see the latest Sudan Humanitarian Response Dashboard.

HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN FUNDING OVERVIEW

The 2024 Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) requires US$2.7 billion to provide life-saving multi-cluster and protection assistance to 14.7 million people across Sudan in 2024. As of 14 January 2024, the appeal is 3.1 per cent funded, with $83.8 million received, according to the Financial Tracking Service. The Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for 2023 was 41.8 per cent funded. 

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See entire digital situation report for Sudan

Previous updates: Sudan Humanitarian Update, 4 January 2024

OCHA coordinates the global emergency response to save lives and protect people in humanitarian crises. We advocate for effective and principled humanitarian action by all, for all. https://www.unocha.org/sudan

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