NEW YORK, March 13, 2025—Christopher Lockyear,
Secretary General of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors
Without Borders (MSF), briefed the United Nations Security
Council today on the humanitarian catastrophe caused by war
in Sudan, calling for an end to violence against civilians
and a new commitment to deliver lifesaving aid.
The
war in Sudan is above all a “war on people,” Lockyear said.
The Sudanese Armed Forces have repeatedly and
indiscriminately bombed densely populated areas. The Rapid
Support Forces and allied militias have unleashed a campaign
of brutality, marked by systematic sexual violence,
abductions, mass killings, the looting of humanitarian aid,
and the occupation of medical facilities. Both sides have
laid siege to towns, destroyed vital civilian
infrastructure, and blocked humanitarian aid.
MSF
provides medical care in 11 of Sudan’s states, on both sides
of the conflict, according to humanitarian principles. MSF
teams in Sudan have warned of alarming levels of
malnutrition in many areas, while infectious and
vaccine-preventable diseases are rising. The coming rainy
season underlines the urgency of ensuring that people in
war-torn areas receive food and medical
supplies.
MSF’s message to the Council is that the war
in Sudan cannot continue to be waged with shameless
disregard for civilian lives. After nearly two years, the
international response has been far too limited due to
obstructions by the warring parties and a lack of
accountability, resources and leadership.
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“While
statements are made in this chamber, civilians remain
unseen, unprotected, bombed, besieged, raped, displaced,
deprived of food, of medical care, of dignity,” Lockyear
said. “The humanitarian response falters, crippled by
bureaucracy, by insecurity, by hesitation, and by what
threatens to become the largest divestment in the history of
humanitarian aid.”
Lockyear called instead for a new
commitment to protect civilians and meet humanitarian
needs.
“The crisis in Sudan demands a fundamental
shift away from the failed approaches of the past,” he said.
“Millions of lives depend on
it.”
