In Sudan, a humanitarian crisis under the radar

Last April, the UN warned that Sudan is today one of the “worst humanitarian disasters, the worst displaced crisis and soon the worst hunger crisis in the world”.

The situation in Sudan is catastrophic. Nearly ten million displaced people trapped in deadly clashes that left nearly 15,000 dead in one year, insufficient humanitarian aid, a famine that threatens 18 million people including 3.6 million children… And yet , its coverage, both in terms of needs and in terms of media, is almost non-existent.

Of the 2.7 billion dollars requested by humanitarian donors, only 12% was released last month, despite the organization of an international conference on the situation, which was held in Paris last April and in which Emmanuelle Macron took part. It was also announced that France would provide humanitarian aid of 110 million euros in 2024.

But other parameters explain this media invisibility: access to the internet and communications have been drastically restricted in Sudan, and access to the field is today very complicated for journalists. The military power in place since the coup d’état of October 2021 having been divided into two clans which are clashing today, the issuance of visas and accreditations is at a standstill. For other reasons, humanitarians are also struggling. In the latest example, last weekend, armed men entered a hospital supported by the NGO Doctors Without Borders, forcing humanitarian workers to evacuate to neighboring Chad.

Nothing suggests an end to the crisis anytime soon. Discussions began last year in Saudi Arabia. They are a distant memory and the fighting is affecting more and more towns and reawakening old community resentments, particularly in Darfur. Worried, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, announced last Tuesday that he was launching investigations in this region of the west of the country.