Quarter of Sudanese Needs Immediate Humanitarian Assistance: ICRC

ICRC President Peter Maurer at water yard in Kadoglei with some displaced children on 11 Jan 2018 - (ICRC photo)

October 30, 2020 

(KHARTOUM) - One in four Sudanese needs for humanitarian assistance due to the triple threat of clashes, climate shocks and COVID-19, said the deputy head of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), on Friday.

Gilles Carbonnier concluded a one-week visit to Sudan as he visited Kass locality in South Darfur, where the ICRC is distributing household essentials to 15,600 people who have returned to the area after being displaced by clashes.

Also, he met with Chairman of Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, his deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo "Hemetti"; Justice Minister of Justice Nasr al-Din Abdel Bari; South Darfur Governor Musa Mahdi; SPLM/N-Agar Deputy Chairman Yasir Arman; and Secretary-General of the Sudanese Red Crescent Society Afaf Ahmed Yahya.

The humanitarian official said affected communities in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan are caught between extremes as clashes, droughts, and floods.

As a result, millions of people "do not have enough food, water, medical care or other necessities to survive, a crisis made more complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic, price inflation, and a shortage of basic commodities,” he said.

The Red Cross estimated that around a quarter of the 40 million Sudanese needs immediate humanitarian assistance.

The statement further said that despite the signing of the peace agreement in Juba, the risk of renewed clashes in parts of Darfur and eastern Sudan remains.

(ST)