On March 12, UN humanitarians said that violence and waves of displacements overwhelmed the fragile healthcare system in El-Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state.
“More than 200 health facilities in El Fasher are not functioning, and there are severe shortages of medical staff, essential medicines and life-saving supplies,” said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
As the civil war enters its second year, Sudan’s two warring factions, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF), remain locked in a deadly power struggle.
The RSF is the most powerful paramilitary group to come out of the Bashir era. The RSF was created from the Janjaweed militia, an Arab-majority armed group funded by Bashir to repress southern Sudanese rebels and, most notably, to fight in the Darfur War. Sudanese Armed Forces is a legal military force of Sudan and is currently under the command of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
Since the conflict began on April 15, 2023, almost 15,000 people have been killed, and more than 8.2 million have been displaced, giving rise to the worst displacement crisis in the world. Nearly 2 million displaced Sudanese have fled to unstable areas in Chad, Ethiopia, and South Sudan, overrunning refugee camps and prompting concerns that Sudanese refugees could soon attempt to enter Europe. The UN continues to plead for more support as more than 25 million need humanitarian assistance, and deteriorating food security risks are triggering the “world’s largest hunger crisis.
The health infrastructure situation has already been destroyed in almost two years of intense fighting. Humanitarian partners have been trying to provide medical supplies, but their efforts to deliver continue to be impeded by insecurity and access constraints, the office said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that more than 70 per cent of hospitals and health facilities across areas impacted by the hostilities in Sudan are no longer operational, leaving millions without healthcare.
“Sudan’s health system has also come under relentless attack,” WHO said. “As of mid-February, WHO recorded nearly 150 attacks on health care in Sudan since the war there began, but the real figure could be far higher.”
OCHA appealed to the parties involved in the conflict to ensure safe, sustained, and timely humanitarian access to reachpeople needing life-saving support. Civilians must be protected, and the essential needs for their survival must be met, Xinhua news agency reported.
Also Read: Sudan On Humanitarian Fire
As the civil war enters its second year, Sudan’s two warring factions remain locked in a deadly power struggle. Since the conflict began on April 15, 2023, almost 15,000 people have been killed, and more than 8.2 million have been displaced, giving rise to the worst displacement crisis in the world.
Nearly 2 million displaced Sudanese have fled to unstable areas in Chad, Ethiopia, and South Sudan, overrunning refugee camps and prompting concerns that Sudanese refugees could soon attempt to enter Europe.
Meanwhile, mediation efforts have failed to produce results as the leaders of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) refuse to halt their violence, and regional and international actors have taken sides in the war.
Why is there a Civil war in Sudan?
The civil war started in April 2023 when two rival armed forces, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and a powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), started fighting to take control of the power in Sudan. The fighting broke out in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, which transcended into an entire civil war.
The two groups, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (SAF) and Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo (RSF), are battling one another for control of the state and its resources. As the conflict deepens, humanitarian conditions are declining, and the promise of a long-awaited democratic transition diminishes.