Sudan

New UN aid chief admits to challenges in fundraising amid numerous crises

The new head of the UN humanitarian aid agency says it will be ruthless when prioritising how to spend money, a nod to challenges in fundraising for civilians in war zones like Gaza, Sudan, Syria and Ukraine. Tom Fletcher, a longtime British diplomat who took up the UN post last month, said his agency is asking for less money in 2025 than this year. He said it wants to show "we will focus and target the resources we have, even as crises grow more numerous, intense and long-lasting. His agency, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, on Wednesday issued its global appeal for 2025, seeking USD 47 billion to help 190 million people in 32 countries though it estimates 305 million worldwide need help. The world is on fire, and this is how we put it out, he told reporters on Tuesday. The office and many other aid groups, including the international Red Cross, have seen donations shrink in recent years for longtime trouble spots like Syria, South Sudan, the Middle Eas

Sudan's forces escalating attacks, outsiders fuelling fire: UN chief

Sudan's warring military and paramilitary forces are escalating attacks with outside powers fuelling the fire, which is intensifying the nightmare of hunger and disease for millions, the United Nations chief said on Monday. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the UN Security Council that the 18-month war faces the serious possibility of igniting regional instability from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa to the Red Sea. In a grim report, Guterres said the Sudanese people are living through numerous nightmares from killings and unspeakable atrocities including widespread rapes to fast-spreading diseases, mass ethnic violence, and 750,000 people facing catastrophic food insecurity and famine conditions in North Darfur displacement sites. He singled out shocking reports of mass killings and sexual violence in villages in east-central Gezira province in recent days. The UN and a doctors' group said paramilitary fighters ran riot in the region in a multi-day attack that killed more

Sudan accuses UAE of arming rival paramilitary, UAE refutes allegations

The Sudanese government accused the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday of providing weapons to its rival paramilitary force and prolonging the 17-month war. The UAE called the allegations utterly false and baseless and accused the government of refusing to negotiate peace with its enemy. Their latest clash came during a U.N. Security Council meeting where its 15 members voted unanimously to extend an arms embargo in Sudan's vast western Darfur region a key battleground of the rival forces until Sept. 12, 2025. Sudan plunged into conflict in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders broke out in the capital, Khartoum, and spread to Darfur and other regions. More than 13 million people have been forced to flee their homes, the country is engulfed in a humanitarian crisis, and the head of the U.N. World Health Organization said Sunday that over 20,000 people have been killed. Sudanese Ambassador Al-Harith Mohamed accused the UAE of ...

Sudan's war has killed at least 20,000 people, says WHO chief Ghebreyesus

More than 16 months of war in Sudan has killed more than 20,000 people, a senior United Nations official said on Sunday, a grim figure amid a devastating conflict that has wrecked the northeastern African country. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organisation, gave the tally at a news conference in Sudan's Red Sea city of Port Sudan, which serves as the seat of the internationally recognised, military-backed government. He said the death toll could be much higher. Sudan is suffering through a perfect storm of crisis, Tedros said as he wrapped up his two-day visit to Sudan. The scale of the emergency is shocking, as is the insufficient action being taken to curtail the conflict. Sudan was plunged into chaos in April last year when simmering tensions between the military and a powerful paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, exploded into open warfare across the country. The conflict has turned the capital, Khartoum, and other urban areas into ..

UAE signs agreement with UNICEF to aid humanitarian efforts in Sudan

The agreement allocates $ 6million for UNICEF's operations in Sudan and $ 1million for its activities in South Sudan

Cholera outbreak in Sudan killed at least 22 people, says health minister

It has killed thousands of people and pushed many into starvation, with famine already confirmed in a sprawling camp for displaced people in the wrecked northern region of Darfur

Sudan paramilitary fighters kill 85 in attack on central village: Residents

Fighters from Sudan's paramilitary group rampaged through a central village, looting and burning and killing at least 85 people, including women and children, authorities and residents said Saturday, the latest atrocity in the country's 18-month devastating conflict. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces began attacking Galgani in the central province of Sennar late in July and last week RSF fighters indiscriminately opened fire on the village's unarmed residents after they resisted attempts to abduct and sexually assault women and girls, Sudan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. More than 150 villagers were wounded, it said. The RSF has been repeatedly accused of massacres, rapes and other gross violations across the country since the war started in April last year, when simmering tensions between the military and the group exploded into open fighting in the capital Khartoum and elsewhere. Describing the hourslong attack, three residents said hundreds of RSF fighters stormed th

Paramilitary forces attack a city under military control in central Sudan

Fighting continued to rage between Sudan's military and a notorious paramilitary group in a city in a central province, officials said Sunday, opening yet another front in a fourteen-month war that has pushed the African country to the brink of famine. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces began its offensive on the Sennar province earlier this week, attacking the village of Jebal Moya before moving to the city of Singa, the provincial capital, authorities said, where fresh battles have erupted. On Saturday, the group claimed in a statement it had seized the military's main facility, the 17th Infantry Division Headquarters in Singa. Local media also reported the RSF managed to breach the military's defense. However, Brig. Nabil Abdalla, a spokesperson for the Sudanese armed forces, said the military regained control of the facility, and that fighting was still underway Sunday morning. Neither claim could be independently verified. According to the U.N.'s International Organization

Sudan accuses UAE of fuelling war with weapons to paramilitary rivals

The Sudanese government has accused the United Arab Emirates of fuelling the 14-month war in the African country by providing weapons to a rival paramilitary force. The UAE dismissed the allegation as "ludicrous," calling "a shameful abuse by one of the warring parties". The clash came during a UN Security Council meeting at which Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee warned that atrocities are being committed along ethnic lines in Sudan's western Darfur region. She urged an immediate cease-fire in the North Darfur capital, El Fasher, which is besieged by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, "to prevent further atrocities, protect critical infrastructure, and alleviate civilian suffering". Sudanese Ambassador Al-Harith Mohamed accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces of "destructively launching" its war with the Sudanese military and attacking civilians, aided by weapons from the UAE. He said that Sudan has evidence of the UAE supplying weapons and that the government wil

Sudan, Congo, Haiti top UN envoy's concerns for children in conflicts

The United Nations envoy charged with reporting on violations against children in conflicts around the world said that first and foremost she is worried about what's happening to youngsters in war-torn Sudan, followed by Congo and Haiti. Virginia Gamba told a news conference officially launching the secretary-general's annual report and UN blacklist of violators that she is also very worried about children caught in Myanmar's civil war and the spillover into neighbouring Bangladesh. For the future, on the horizon, she said, I'm worried about Somalia and Afghanistan. The report for the first time put both Israeli forces and Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants on the blacklist for violating children's rights in 2023 during Hamas' October 7 surprise invasion of southern Israel and its massive military retaliation in Gaza that is ongoing. The UN also kept the Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups on the blacklist for a second year over their killing and maiming of

S Africa heads for 'coalition country' as partial results put ANC below 50%

South Africa was heading closer to the reality of a national coalition government for the first time Friday as partial election results put the ruling African Nation Congress well short of a majority. With more than half of votes counted across the country's nine provinces, the ANC had received just under 42% of the national vote, according to the early results as counting continued. That represented a huge drop from the 57.5% it received in the last national election in 2019, although the final results from Wednesday's election have not yet been declared. The commission that runs the election said those would be announced by Sunday, although they could come sooner. The count from more than 12,000 of the 23,000 polling stations raised the strong possibility that the ANC would need a coalition partner to form a government and reelect President Cyril Ramaphosa for a second and final term. The frenzied negotiations were likely set to start behind closed doors. The ANC was still leadin

Sudan's people trapped in inferno of brutal violence as famine close in: UN

The Sudanese people are trapped in an inferno of brutal violence with famine, disease and fighting closing in and no end in sight, the top UN humanitarian official in the war-ravaged country said on Wednesday. Clementine Nkweta-Salami told a UN press conference that horrific atrocities are being committed with reckless abandon, reports of rape, torture and ethnically motivated violence are streaming in", communities and families have been torn apart, and almost 9 million people have been forced to flee their homes in what is now the world's largest displacement crisis. Earlier this month, the UN food agency warned Sudan's warring parties that there is a serious risk of widespread starvation and death in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan if they don't allow humanitarian aid into the vast western region a view echoed Wednesday by Nkweta-Salami. Sudan plunged into conflict in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the ...

Warfare in Sudan's Darfur risks starvation, death if aid isn't allowed: UN

The United Nations food agency warned Sudan's warring parties Friday that there is a serious risk of widespread starvation and death in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan if they don't allow humanitarian aid into the vast western region. Leni Kinzli, the World Food Program's regional spokesperson, said at least 1.7 million people in Darfur were experiencing emergency levels of hunger in December, and the number is expected to be much higher today. Our calls for humanitarian access to conflict hotspots in Sudan have never been more critical, she told a virtual U.N. press conference from Nairobi. Sudan plunged into chaos in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, broke out into street battles in the capital, Khartoum. Fighting has spread to other parts of the country, especially urban areas and the Darfur region. The paramilitary forces, known as the RS

Stop supplying weapons to Sudan's warring parties: US to all countries

The United States on Monday implored all countries supplying weapons to Sudan's warring parties to halt arms sales, warning that history in the vast western Darfur region where there was a genocide 20 years ago is repeating itself". US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters after an emergency closed meeting of the U.N. Security Council that El Fasher, the only capital in Darfur not held by paramilitary forces, is on the precipice of a large-scale massacre." She urged all countries to raise the threat that a crisis of epic proportions is brewing." Britain's deputy ambassador James Kariuki echoed her appeal saying: The last thing Sudan needs is a further escalation on top of this conflict that's been going on for a whole year. Thomas-Greenfield said there are credible reports that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and their allied militias have razed many villages west of El Fasher and are planning an imminent attack on El Fasher. An attack on El Fasher would be a ...

Sudan's war being fuelled by weapons from foreign supporters, says UN

The year-old war in Sudan between rival generals vying for power has sparked a crisis of epic proportions fuelled by weapons from foreign supporters who continue to flout UN sanctions aimed at helping end the conflict, the UN political chief said on Friday. This is illegal, it is immoral, and it must stop, Undersecretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo told the UN Security Council. Sudan plunged into chaos in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo broke out into street battles in the capital, Khartoum. Fighting has spread to other parts of the country, especially urban areas and the western Darfur region, DiCarlo painted a dire picture of the war's impact over 14,000 dead, tens of thousands wounded, looming famine with 25 million people in need of life-saving assistance, and over 8.6 million forced to flee their homes. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, chair of th

UAE welcomes UNSC resolution calling for ceasefire in Sudan during Ramadan

The Ministry underscored its steadfast support for all endeavours working towards de-escalation, achieving a ceasefire, and initiating political dialogue

UN chief urges Sudan's warring parties to halt hostilities during Ramadan

The United Nations chief urged Sudan's warring parties on Thursday to halt hostilities during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, warning that the nearly year-long conflict threatens the country's unity and could ignite regional instability of dramatic proportions. Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, the head of Sudan's military which has been fighting for control of Sudan with the rival commander of the country's paramilitary force, welcomed the Ramadan ceasefire appeal, Sudan's U.N. envoy said. But there was no immediate word from the commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo. U.N. Secretary-General Antnio Guterres' appeal came ahead of an expected U.N. Security Council vote Friday on a British-drafted resolution calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities ahead of the month of Ramadan. The draft resolution expresses grave concern over the spreading violence and the catastrophic and deteriorating humanitarian situation, including crisis levels of acute .

Britain's draft UN resolution calls for ceasefire in conflict-torn Sudan

Britain has circulated a draft UN resolution calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in conflict-wracked Sudan ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins soon. The draft, obtained late Wednesday by The Associated Press, expresses grave concern over the spreading violence and the catastrophic and deteriorating humanitarian situation, including crisis levels of acute food insecurity, particularly in Darfur. With Ramadan expected to begin around Sunday, depending on the sighting of the new moon, the council is expected to vote quickly on the resolution, likely on Friday. Sudan plunged into chaos last April, when long-simmering tensions between its military led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo broke out into street battles in the capital, Khartoum. Fighting spread to other parts of the country, especially urban areas, but in Sudan's western Darfur region it took on a different form, with bru

People dying from starvation amid the conflict in Sudan: UN food agency

The UN food agency said on Friday it has received reports of people dying from starvation in Sudan, where raging fighting between rival generals is hampering the distribution of aid and food supplies to those most hungry. The 10 months of clashes between the Sudanese military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, a powerful paramilitary group commanded by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, has decimated vast swaths of the northeastern Africa country. The conflict erupted last April in the capital, Khartoum, and quickly spread to other areas of the country, after months of simmering tensions between the two forces. World Food Programme said that some 18 million people across Sudan currently face acute hunger, with the most desperate trapped behind the front lines of the conflict. The hotspots include Khartoum, the western Darfur region, and the provinces of Kordofan and Gezira areas where roadblocks, taxation demands and security threats endanger ...

Committed to cease-fire, but no progress on peace talks: Sudanese general

Sudanese paramilitary leader Gen Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo said Thursday he was committed to a cease-fire to end the devastating war that has wrecked his country, even as fighting continues and there has been no progress on proposed peace talks between Dagalo and Sudan military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan. Dagalo, leader of the Rapid Support Forces, said in a statement following a meeting in Pretoria with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that he had briefed Ramaphosa on the considerable efforts taken to end this war. I emphasized our unwavering commitment to cease hostilities, Dagalo said, although he didn't say if or when he would meet with Burhan. The warring generals agreed last month to a face-to-face meeting and to start talks over a possible cease-fire, according to the East African regional bloc IGAD. No date or location for the talks have been announced. During Thursday's meeting with Dagalo, Ramaphosa said he hoped there would be an "imminent face-to-face dialogue"