Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Ms. Joyce Msuya: Briefing to the Security Council on the Humanitarian Situation in Sudan, New York, 25 April 2023

As delivered

Madame President, thank you for this opportunity to brief the Council on the desperate humanitarian situation in Sudan.

Let me start by expressing my deepest gratitude to all my humanitarian colleagues and to the Sudanese people themselves. I thank them for their heroic efforts and for putting their lives at risk to help others. We are doing our absolute best to support them in these testing times.

What has been unfolding there since April 15th is a nightmare for ordinary citizens and aid workers alike.

The fighting must stop.

Madame President, even prior to April 15th, humanitarian needs in Sudan were at a record high.

15.8 million people – a staggering one third of the population – needed humanitarian aid. 4 million children and pregnant and lactating women were malnourished.

3.7 million people were internally displaced. This conflict will not only deepen those needs. It also threatens to unleash an entirely new wave of humanitarian challenges.

Fighting is massively impeding and imperilling aid operations. A humanitarian crisis is quickly turning into a catastrophe.

More than 450 people have been killed. More than 4,000 have been injured.

At least 20 hospitals have been forced to close due to damage, military use, or lack of resources.

Power cuts and fuel shortages risk damaging vaccine stocks and water supplies, a precursor for the spread of disease.

There have been numerous reports of sexual and gender-based violence. We call on all parties to ensure that no woman or girl is affected by these crimes.

The toll on mental health and psychological wellbeing, especially among children, is unimaginable.

Madame President, the humanitarian community has not been spared. We have lost five of our own. Aid workers have been attacked in their homes, beaten, held at gunpoint.

Warehouses, offices, and vehicles have been attacked, looted or seized.

The situation is extremely dangerous, and alarming. Madame President, our commitment to the people of Sudan remains resolute.

While we have been forced to reduce our footprint in areas where fighting is at its most intense, let there be no mistake: We are not leaving Sudan. A humanitarian leadership team will remain in the country, based in Port Sudan, to lead operations.

Where possible, humanitarian operations continue, thanks to the dedication of aid workers, including our local partners.

Together, we continue to deliver whenever and wherever feasible, particularly in the areas of health and nutrition.
We are exploring ways to replenish our stockpiles so that we can deliver aid to our partners in Port Sudan and elsewhere, as soon as it is safe to do so.

We are activating a hub in Nairobi to support the rapid response.

And we are preparing for refugee influxes into countries across the region. We have received reports of tens of thousands of people arriving in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

I thank those countries receiving people fleeing the fierce fighting. It is critical to keep borders open.

We are also working to redistribute recent allocations from the Central Emergency Response Fund and the Sudan Humanitarian Fund. And we will continue to work with local partners, including civil-society networks, to reach those most in need.

Madame President,

International humanitarian law is unequivocal. All parties to the conflict must respect civilians and civilian infrastructure, taking constant care to spare them. This includes allowing safe passage for civilians to leave areas of hostilities on a voluntary basis.

They must respect humanitarian workers and assets and facilitate relief operations.

And they must respect medical personnel, transport and facilities.

Madame President, distinguished Members of the Council,

What the people of Sudan need, what we need to reach them, is an immediate ceasefire and a lasting solution to the crisis.

We are counting on your relentless efforts to this end.

I thank you.