Sudan: the forgotten tragedy

With the news dominated as they are with the unfortunate conflicts in Ukraine and the Holy Land, it seems there is no space for what is going on in Sudan. A country that since 1956, when Sudan first gained independence from the United Kingdom, there have been only 11 years of peace.

The United Kingdom and Egypt administered Sudan from 1899 to 1956.

Sudan was once the largest and the most geographically diverse state in Africa. However, it was split into two countries in July 2011.

A country at the centre of a collision of cultures, religions and ethnicities including those of sub-Saharan Africa and those of the Arab Islamic world — have led to nearly 50 years of civil war in one form or another.

Suffice to say that the term Sudanese Civil War refers to at least three separate conflicts in Sudan: First Sudanese Civil War (1955–1972) Second Sudanese Civil War (1983–2005) War in Sudan (2023– present).

Amid all this, a conflict within a conflict erupted in Darfur and with such dire consequences that in September 2004, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell deemed the Darfur conflict a genocide and called it the worst humanitarian crisis of the 21st century.

Suffice to say that in the war in Darfur that began in February 2003, it caused an estimated death count of 200,000 to 400,000 people and displacing nearly two million others.

Some food for thought, these are the latest figures issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), about Sudan:

The number of people displaced by conflict since April 15 inside and outside of Sudan has reached 8.1 million.

Since mid-April, ACLED has recorded about 13,900 reported fatalities in Sudan.

With expectations of a reduced upcoming harvest, prices of staple food are likely to remain atypically high in the harvest season.

Suspected cholera cases continue to increase, with over 10,700 suspected cases, including 292 associated deaths, reported as of February 17, 2024.

In January, health cluster partners provided medical consultations for about 181,000 people in 12 states and delivered medicines to about 115,000 people in eight states.

The latest war broke out over the terms of a plan for a political transition from military rule towards free elections, has caused more than eight million people to flee their homes, creating the world’s biggest displacement crisis.

The number of Sudanese estimated to be facing crisis levels of hunger - one stage before famine - has more than tripled in a year to nearly five million.

Currently 25 million people affected by the war in Sudan don’t know where their next meal is coming from, according to the World Food Programme.

Regardless of its troubled history, Sudan that for many years was in the forefront for women rights, taking the prize for the first female parliamentarian in Africa and the Middle East way back in 1965 as well as the first female judge, army members and police officers among others though not only.

Nowadays, Sudan boasts a president who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, and his country ranks near the bottom of the press freedom index.

With no end to the violence in sight, people are desperately seeking safety and protection, both inside Sudan and in bordering countries such as Chad, South Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Central African Republic.

A land deeply seeped in African and Arab history but that now can say is totally left to its tragic faith and is constantly falling victims to bloodshed on a large scale. There has been an effort for peace talks brokered by the United States, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) – on behalf of the African Union (AU), but with no success so far.

The objectives of the talks include facilitating the delivery of humanitarian assistance in Sudan and ultimately a permanent cessation of hostilities. It is hoped that the resumption of talks that had stalled since July will advance prospects for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Sudan.

This latest brutal war in Sudan is pushing the country towards a famine and unless there is sufficient political will, attention and resources put towards the response now, the world is looking at a potential catastrophic loss of lives that might supersede what one has seen so far.

“Currently 25 million people affected by the war in Sudan don’t know where their next meal is coming from”