Excellencies,
Since world leaders met last September to consider the spiraling humanitarian crisis in Sudan, every marker of human suffering has worsened. The warring parties are resistant to efforts to end the conflict; hostilities are escalating and systematic violence is rampant; famine is confirmed and spreading; displacement has increased exponentially; disease is soaring; coping mechanisms are dwindling; and the aid response is crippled by arbitrary denials of humanitarian access, deeply insufficient international funding contributions, and a crisis of strategic leadership and diplomacy. We implore you to move beyond discourse and catalyse urgent collective action to enact solutions for these priority challenges:
The UN-led humanitarian system is failing Sudan and requires an overhaul. After more than 500 days of war, humanitarian leadership in Sudan has been unable to secure unfettered access; prevent and respond to the world’s worst hunger and displacement crises; and scale up operational presence, assistance, and services in areas most severely affected. To achieve an effective response that is fit for purpose and rooted in neutrality, a shift toward regional leadership and diplomacy structures, alternative and complementary aid delivery modalities, and increased UN presence across Sudan is essential. Member States must provide their full backing and support to reconfigure the response, increase risk tolerance, and operationalise a 'no regrets' approach to humanitarian action.
Civilians and aid workers cannot wait until the war ends for protection. People in Sudan are experiencing catastrophic violence, harm, and death, and humanitarian actors –including local responders—are delivering assistance at great risk amid the raging conflict. Civilians do not have the luxury to wait for those in power to live up to the responsibility to protect. As efforts to achieve a national ceasefire stall, there has been little investment in practical and localised protection measures, despite local stakeholders’ successful track record negotiating agreements that keep people safer. Member States must resource and operationalise immediate solutions to mitigate harm- including a dedicated mechanism to champion Protection of Civilians efforts with a primary focus on local level initiatives- while planning strategically toward longer-term measures built on lessons learned from previous mechanisms.
International donor negligence has resulted in an ineffectual and piecemeal humanitarian response. Compared to humanitarian funding for major global crises over the last decade, the people of Sudan receive a fraction of the resources provided to other conflict-affected contexts. This translates to $60 per each of the 24.4 million people in need in Sudan compared to $156 in Afghanistan, $209 in Syria, $234 in Yemen, and $254 in Ukraine. This funding shortfall has created shameful gaps in services and assistance, even in areas accessible to humanitarian partners. As the number of people in need continues to rise, Member States’ calls to action must be paired with increased flexible funding, including for frontline local responders operating at great risk with limited support.
Without commitment to progress on these fronts, we fear another year will pass waiting for the war to end while more lives are lost. We can and must do more today to support the people of Sudan to access assistance and protection.
Sincerely,
William Carter
Sudan Country Director, Norwegian Refugee Council
Notes to editors
This analysis is based on reported humanitarian contributions in OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service for the past 10 years and People in Need calculations from the respective Humanitarian Needs Overviews for the corresponding peak funding year. This year in Sudan $1.5B has been provided for 24.8M people in need. Afghanistan’s peak funding year was 2022 at $3.8B with 24.4M people in need. Yemen recorded $5.2B in 2018 with a PIN of 22.2M. Syria received $3.2B in 2023 and the PIN was 15.3M. Ukraine’s highest funded year was 2022 with $4.5B and 17.7 million people in need* (Accessed September 20, 2024).
*Ukraine calculation corrected September 25