Rape an everyday reality in war-hit Sudan - activist

Report from BBC News Sudan
Dated Wednesday, 22 November 2023 15:01 GMT

Rape an everyday reality in war-hit Sudan - activist

A rights activist in Sudan says sexual violence against women has become a deliberate tactic in the civil war which started in April.

Hala al-Karib, who runs the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, says 70% of documented cases of sexual violence are gang rape, and that the targeting of women and girls has become part of everyday reality.

She told the BBC's Newsday radio programme that both the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had carried out attacks on women, but that the paramilitaries appeared to be using it as a tactic to intimidate communities.

A conference is being held in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, to highlight the impact of the war in Sudan on women.

Read: Gang-raped and racially abused

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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

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UN: Sudan conflict displaced more than 2 million

Report at Radio Pakistan - https://www.radio.gov.pk/

Dated Thursday 15 June 2023 - full copy:

Sudan’s raging war forces over two million from their homes

In Sudan, fighting has again intensified in and around the capital Khartoum as the governor of West Darfur has been assassinated.

Governor Khamis Abakar was abducted by gunmen after a TV interview in which he accused the paramilitary fighters of genocide and called for international intervention.

The United Nations said the conflict has so far displaced more than 2 million people and escalating attacks in Darfur could amount to crimes against humanity.

View original: https://www.radio.gov.pk/15-06-2023/sudans-raging-war-forces-over-two-million-from-their-homes

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

Last updated: Tuesday 13 June 2023 - excerpts:

Sudan Situation Report - Situation Overview

Conflict-related sexual violence is a major concern. Since the fighting began, civil society organizations have reported increasing cases of gender-based violence in particular sexual violence and kidnappings targeting women and girls. Due to sensitivities and fear of reprisals including against survivors and service providers, many cases have not been formally reported, with the priority focus being on the provision of emergency care, protection and support to victims/survivors. While OHCHR continued to receive reports, the numbers are expected to be much higher. 

Nearly 1.9 million people have been fled to safer locations inside and outside the country since the conflict began on 15 April. Over 1.4 million are internally displaced within Sudan, according to the International Organization for Migration’s Displacement Tracking Matrix as of 6 June. Most of the internally displaced people have taken refuge in West Darfur (19 per cent), White Nile (15 per cent), River Nile (13 per cent) and Northern states (13 per cent). They originally displaced from six states, including Khartoum (66 per cent), West Darfur (19 per cent), South Darfur (7 per cent), Central Darfur (6 per cent), North Darfur (2 per cent) and North Kordofan (0.2 per cent). Before the crisis, Sudan had already approximately 3.8 million displaced people, the majority of whom (an estimated 79 per cent) were based in Darfur and in severe need of humanitarian assistance. In addition, 460,000 people, including refugees, asylum seekers and returnees, have crossed into neighbouring countries, including Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) as of 8 June.

View original: https://reports.unocha.org/en/country/sudan/

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