SUDAN: Priority to the people

PRESS RELEASE

After relocating to safety, Première Urgence Internationale teams in Sudan are redeploying their humanitarian aid efforts to people affected by the conflict that has been tearing the country apart for over 10 days.

People flee their neighbourhoods amid fighting between the army and paramilitaries in Khartoum on April 19, 2023, following the collapse of a 24-hour truce. (Photo by AFP)

The violent clashes in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the capital Khartoum and in various regions of the country have already left at least 457 people dead and 4,000 wounded, and caused thousands to flee. The fighting continues in the capital and is intensifying in the rest of the country, particularly in West Darfur, where Première Urgence Internationale teams are present.

In addition to an extremely dangerous situation, people are facing price increases for many basic goods such as water, food and fuel. Access to basic services is severely deteriorated, including health care, with almost all hospitals in Khartoum dysfunctional. There have even been reports of attacks on health facilities, staff and ambulances.

In West Darfur, the border state with Chad, in addition to clashes, there have been reports of looting of government facilities and offices of international and humanitarian organizations. Villages along the border are the first to receive refugees fleeing conflict in Sudan. Between 10,000 and 20,000 people, the majority of whom are women and children, are reportedly taking refuge in three sites. The deterioration of the situation over the last two days, particularly in the town of Geneina, has led to fears of an even greater influx of refugees into Chad.

In Chad, Première Urgence Internationale has come to support the refugees in the Adré area, with “a mobile health clinic that offers primary health care, care for malnourished children, breastfeeding mothers and pregnant women,” says Alpha Koita, our Head of Mission in Chad, whose teams also plan to “reinforce these actions with the distribution of drinking water, food, and household items, as well as the construction of shelters for these families, essentially made up of women and children who have left everything behind.”

In Gedaref State on the Ethiopian border, our key staff have been relocated to reorient health and nutrition activities, including the deployment of mobile clinics. This response will resume as soon as the security situation permits.

In both Sudan and Chad, the humanitarian emergency is likely to become critical, both for the new arrivals and for the Chadian population living in a situation of acute vulnerability. This new crisis has weakened the socio-economic and security situation in eastern Chad and has led to a saturation of the capacity of local health facilities, which are already short of human resources and medical equipment.

To answer your questions:

In Paris: Olivier Routeau, Director of Operations (French and English)

In Chad: Alpha Koita, Head of Mission (French and English)

In Sudan: Mirko Zappacosta, Head of Mission (French, English, Italian)

Press contact: Paul Duke [email protected] (+33) 07 60 32 47 04

Première Urgence Internationale has been present on the Chad-Sudan border since 2004, initially with Sudanese refugees and Chadian populations fleeing the major conflict in Darfur. Our teams also began to intervene in Sudan in 2020 to respond to the vulnerabilities of the populations of the South Kordofan region. They shifted their focus in 2021 to address the needs of refugees fleeing the civil war in Ethiopia and local populations in Gedaref. Since 2022, they have also been present in West Darfur State to respond to malnutrition needs.

In Ethiopia, other Première Urgence Internationale teams are planning to respond to the growing needs of these populations affected by internal conflicts and climatic phenomena. The NGO’s projects will contribute to the emergency response to the nutritional crisis in the country, while supporting the strengthening of local health systems.