15 April 2025
And amid spiralling
violence and the massacre of civilians linked to advancing
opposition forces in the Darfurs at the weekend, the UN
chief called
for an end to outside interference in Sudan that could
lead to it breaking up into Government and opposition-held
regions.
“I am deeply concerned that weapons
and fighters continue to flow into Sudan, allowing the
conflict to persist and spread across the
country,” the Secretary-General
said.
“The external support and flow of
weapons must end. Those with greatest influence on
the parties must use it to better the lives of people in
Sudan – not to perpetuate this disaster.”
Tens of
millions need help
Behind Tuesday’s grim two-year
anniversary is the largest displacement crisis in the world
– and the worst humanitarian crisis – UN agencies
say.
Basic infrastructure in the capital, Khartoum,
has been devastated by fighting and aid teams have warned
that help is needed urgently to support the estimated three
million people who are expected to return
there.
“The situation in
Khartoum is extremely dire, especially in the areas where
the conflict has been intense,” said Luca Renda,
UN Development Programme (UNDP)
representative for Sudan, following the city’s recent
recapture by Sudanese Armed
Forces.
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Speaking to journalists in Geneva
after an assessment mission to the capital, he reported
seeing “massive destruction of infrastructure, no
access to water, no electricity and of course a lot of
contamination of unexploded ordnance”.
The
massacre accredited to opposition Rapid Support Forces (RSF)
and their affiliates in Darfur’s Zamzam and Abu Shouk camp
reportedly claimed the lives of 400 civilians and nine
medical workers from the NGO Relief International.
It
is just the latest tragedy in a conflict marked by horrific
levels of sexual violence.
United Nations News · Sudan: Women’s bodies ‘turned
into battlegrounds’
According to the UN
migration agency, IOM, an
estimated 80,000 people have already fled Zamzam but this
number could reach 400,000.
Male residents were the
“main target” and they have been fleeing to reach the
regional capital, El Fasher, which remains under control of
the Sudanese army despite ongoing assaults by
RSF.
Speaking from Port Sudan, IOM Chief of Mission in
the country, Mohamed Refaat, said that women survivors of
sexual violence told him how they had been attacked “in
front of their injured husbands, in front of their screaming
children”.
Linked to this is a staggering 288 per
cent increase in demand for lifesaving support following
rape and sexual violence, said Anna Mutavati, UN Women Regional
Director for East and Southern Africa.
“We have also
seen what is beginning to look like systematic use of rape
and sexual violence as a weapon of war. We have seen women’s
lives and women’s bodies being turned into battlegrounds in
this conflict.”
The Sudan conflict was the focus
of a meeting in London on Monday, which the UN
Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Sudan
attended.
Ramtane Lamamra told participants that he
intends to intensify his interactions with interlocutors in
Sudan and the broader region.
He added that urgent
political engagement is needed to forestall Sudan’s
permanent fragmentation, which would have obviously, grave
consequences for the region and beyond.
The envoy
reaffirmed UN commitment to continue to back all efforts
that seek to launch an inclusive and credible political
process.
