Sudan's future remains uncertain

More than a year of conflict in Sudan has left tens of thousands of people dead and more than 8.5 million people displaced from their homes, but there is still no end in sight.

Sudanese refugees at a hospital in Adre, Chad. Photo: REUTERS

April 15 marks the first anniversary of the bloody conflict in Sudan between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). According to incomplete figures, the conflict has killed nearly 15,000 people and displaced 8.5 million, of whom 1.8 million have fled to neighboring countries. Observers say it has become one of the world’s largest and most complex displacement crises. Meanwhile, all efforts to promote a peaceful solution to the conflict have so far stalled.

The conflict has now entered its second year, but the North African country still faces an uncertain future as the warring parties remain far apart.

“My children and I left Sudan, followed the coastal road and boarded smugglers to Egypt,” said Mohamed Ismail, a refugee. “Our main concern now is to feed the children and make sure they are safe.”

The war has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian and displacement crises, but it is also one of the most neglected despite the impact, consequences and suffering it has caused to the Sudanese people, according to the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan. “A total of 3.7 million children are malnourished across the country. Of these, an estimated 730,000 are suffering from severe acute malnutrition. In addition, more than 7,000 new mothers are at risk of dying in Sudan if they do not receive urgent assistance in the coming months. These figures only tell half the story. Every family that has suffered because of the ongoing war will live with the bitter memory of extreme hardship,” the UN said.

France, Germany and the European Union recently co-chaired an international conference on Sudanese peace in Paris to push for an end to the conflict and increase aid to Sudan. So far, the parties have only raised 6% of the total $2.7 billion needed to resolve the crisis.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that if fighting does not stop and access to humanitarian aid continues to be blocked, the crisis in Sudan will worsen and could affect the entire region.

Previously, both UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Chairman of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat called for a halt to hostilities in Sudan during the holy month of Ramadan. However, these calls have not received a positive response from all sides. The conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF is pushing the North African country into an uncertain future.

Observers say that despite the support of many international organizations and related countries to find a peaceful solution to end the civil war, the conflict that has broken out in Sudan for more than a year has not shown any signs of cooling down. This is a very bad signal that predicts that this North African country will have a more serious crisis. This means that the lives of the people here will become more difficult if there is no peaceful solution.

The conflict between the Sudanese Army and RSF, which broke out on April 15, 2023, has so far killed more than 15,000 people and displaced 8.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million have fled to neighboring countries. It is alarming that nearly 25 million people, equivalent to 50% of the population of this Northeast African country, are in need of aid.

HN synthesis

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