4 weeks on since fighting erupted in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, the crisis continues to spread across the country, with devastating consequences for civilians. Islamic Relief is on the ground in Khartoum and beyond, providing life-saving humanitarian aid to those affected.
More than 913,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, while millions more are facing critical food shortages amid the crisis. So far, 500 people have been killed and more than 5,000 have been wounded.
Factories and markets have been destroyed, trade disrupted, and humanitarian aid blocked.
Essential items are becoming scarce or so expensive that few can afford to buy them. In Khartoum the cost of some foods has shot up 300% from the standard price – fuel prices have risen by 1,000% in some areas.
Some 15.8 million people across Sudan were highly food insecure prior to the current crisis, following a 3-year drought that has been devastating the Horn of Africa – it is predicted that hunger will now deepen dramatically.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that more than two-thirds of hospitals across Sudan are not functional due to direct attacks, occupation by fighting parties, limited access, lack of electricity, and shortage of water, fuel, or medicines.
Medical stockpiles are running critically low in some areas, with heavy shortages of all medical and surgical supplies, including oxygen and blood bags, according to the Sudan Doctors Union.
“Trembling with fear”
While the effects of the conflict have been most sharply felt in Khartoum and surrounding areas, families across the country have faced electricity shortages and other challenges.
The skyrocketing cost of transport makes it nearly impossible for people to escape the violence, but thankfully, Reem* and her family managed to.
“The children were suffering and feeling scared, even the streets were not safe and full of fear. The children were afraid when they heard the sound of the helicopter flying and releasing ammunition, so they would run and continue running until the sound was gone. Next to me was my niece, and she was trembling with fear and vomiting. All of this was due to fear,” Reem recalls.
Reem and her sister Sharifa were living in Ad-Damazine in southern Sudan when the fighting broke out and they were forced to flee their homes with their families.
“People could no longer feel secure in their homes or with their children. They were afraid to go anywhere, and that is why we left Ad-Damazine. We left because the schools were closed and filled with displaced people, even the bakeries were closed.
“People were afraid and stayed indoors. We faced great difficulty with transportation, and the cost [of tickets] was expensive,” Sharifa recalls, adding that they saw destroyed vehicles littering the streets when they eventually left their home.
“There were clashes on the sasme street that we had come from,” Sharifa says, “Thank God, we arrived in Madani.”
Now having fled Khartoum, Sharifa and her sister are almost totally reliant on humanitarian aid for support.
Islamic Relief’s response
Islamic Relief is on the ground providing life-saving aid to those, like Reem, affected by the ongoing crisis in Sudan.
Working through local partners, we are supplying a hospital in Khartoum with food staples, including lentils, cooking oil and beans, and are in the process of providing medicine to another hospital in the capital.
Outside of Khartoum, plans are underway to provide food, water, medical supplies to thousands of people in Al Jazirah, as well as in parts of Khartoum State and North Kordofan.
At the outset of the crisis, Islamic Relief and other humanitarian organisations temporarily suspended their operations to ensure the safety of staff and the communities they serve.
While our operations have resumed, accessing some areas remains a challenge and we continue to develop and review our response plan to adapt to changing situations on the ground.
We are calling for an end to hostilities, in order to protect civilians and allow unimpeded humanitarian access across Sudan. As access opens up in some regions, Islamic Relief is calling on international governments to step up funding for the humanitarian response and ensure that it can be used flexibly and adapt to the changing situation.
With your generous donations, we can continue to support the people of Sudan through this crisis. Please donate today.
* Name changed to protect individual’s identity
