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 

Sudan: Majority of humanitarian NGO have *not* been issued new sudan visas since conflict began

"The denial of humanitarian assistance as a crime under international law"

A TWEET by William Carter @WillCarter_NRC
Father. Country Director #Sudan @NRC_Norway
Dated Sunday 18 June 2023; 2:50 pm - full copy:

majority of #humanitarian ngo have *not* been issued new #sudan visas in the two months since the #conflict began

about 100 visa applications are still pending from over 30 orgs

we've had a team of 20 on standby for over a month - we could've helped 200k #displaced people by now.  instead its far less, and will take longer - time which nobody can afford

its clear that humanitarian #access is impeded but unclear if its indecision or intention.  its not a capacity bottleneck - visas are issued for non-humanitarian efforts

regardless, ministries and federal authorities can and should easily unblock this

these unnecessary delays have huge, real-life consequence for the humanitarian response, for delivering #aid and services to millions who are suffering

un ga resolution 46/182 outlines that 'states whose populations are in need of humanitarian assistance are called upon to facilitate the work of these organisations in implementing humanitarian assistance' (para. 6), and that the un has a 'central and unique role to play' to 'ensure the prompt and smooth delivery of relief assistance' (para. 13) -- so the un in all its councils, assemblies, members, and agencies all need to fulfil their role too

this hasn't happened yet

i often reflect on this icrc article, which argues that the denial of humanitarian assistance is a crime under international law (https://icrc.org/en/doc/resources/documents/article/other/57jq32.htm…), and wonder why global, continental, and regional powers so easily tolerate such arbitrary impediments from the icrc's commentary of the geneva conventions, which form the core of international humanitarian #law and regulate the conduct of armed conflict, they outline that its not really up to the discretion of warring parties: 

"if the survival of the population is threatened and a humanitarian organization fulfilling the required conditions of impartiality and non-discrimination is able to remedy this situation, relief actions must take place (...) [a] refusal would be equivalent to a violation of the rule prohibiting the use of starvation as a method of combat"

there are positive signs of support and permission with many state-level authorities, embassy consular staff, and even the federal-level humanitarian aid commission is supportive of ngo visa issuance, but:

-not all high-level decision-makers are facilitating

-few stakeholders are confronting/resolving this

-ngos are operating, but quickly scaling is v difficult

-all sudanese civilians are suffering for it

View original: 

https://twitter.com/WillCarter_NRC/status/1670428651299405825

[Ends]

Statement on Darfur Sudan by UN aid chief Griffiths

NOTE, in Sudan 1.7 million people are now internally displaced while close to half a million people have sought refuge outside Sudan. Hundreds of civilians have been killed and thousands have been injured. Read more: 

News and Press Release from OCHA 
Dated Thursday 15 June 2023 
Originally published 15 June 2023 - full copy:

Situation in Darfur spiralling into humanitarian calamity as Sudan conflict hits two-month mark 

Statement by Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (15 June 2023)

(New York, 15 June 2023) As the conflict in Sudan enters its third month, the humanitarian situation across the country continues to deteriorate.

Some 1.7 million people are now internally displaced while close to half a million people have sought refuge outside Sudan. Hundreds of civilians have been killed and thousands have been injured. 

Looting of medical and humanitarian assets continues on a massive scale. Farmers are unable to reach their land, which further raises the risk of food insecurity. And there has been a spike in reports of gender-based violence.

I am particularly worried about conditions in Darfur where people are trapped in a living nightmare: 

Babies dying in hospitals where there were being treated; children and mothers suffering from severe malnutrition; camps for displaced persons burned to the ground; girls raped; schools closed; and families eating leaves to survive.

Hospitals and water facilities have come under attack. Humanitarian warehouses and offices have been ransacked. Aid workers have been killed.

Inter-communal violence is also spreading, threatening to reignite the ethnic tensions that stoked the deadly conflict there 20 years ago. Reports of ethnic killings which claimed the lives of hundreds of people in the besieged town of El Geneina alone, though unconfirmed, should spur the world into action.

Humanitarian partners, including local organizations, have been doing their utmost to deliver aid, replenish stocks of life-saving supplies such as food and medicine, and provide water and nutrition services. However, the violence is hampering their efforts.

Under the rules of war, and the Declaration of Commitments that they both signed, parties to the conflict must refrain from attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure and must take constant care to spare them throughout their military operations.

We urge the parties to allow those seeking to flee to do so safely and voluntarily.

We also urge them and those with influence to ensure the movement of humanitarian supplies and personnel from other parts of Sudan – and from neighbouring countries – to Darfur where close to 9 million people need assistance.

Darfur is rapidly spiralling into a humanitarian calamity. The world cannot allow this to happen. Not again.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

In New York: Eri Kaneko, kaneko@un.org, +1 917 208 8910 

In Geneva: Jens Laerke, laerke@un.org, +41 79 472 9750

Disclaimer

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

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

View original: 

https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/situation-darfur-spiraling-humanitarian-calamity-sudan-conflict-hits-two-month-mark-statement-martin-griffiths-under-secretary-general-humanitarian-affairs-and-emergency-relief-coordinator-15-june-2023

[Ends]

U.S. Statement on the signing of a Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan

We are pleased to announce that representatives of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces signed a Declaration of Commitment recognizing the obligation to facilitate humanitarian action to meet the emergency needs of civilians in Sudan. https://t.co/IocYT7RRr0

— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) May 12, 2023

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]