FACTBOX – 500 days of war: Death, disease, hunger stalk tens of millions in Sudan

By Rabia Ali

ISTANBUL (AA) – In the grip of a devastating civil war, Sudan is facing what many say is one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with millions of displaced people facing biting hunger and deadly diseases.

Since April 2023, Sudan’s army led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the ruling Sovereign Council, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) headed by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo have been locked in a bloody fight for power.

Over the past 16 months, more than 18,800 people have been killed and at least 33,000 injured in Sudan, according to figures from the UN, which recently warned that the country is at a “cataclysmic breaking point.”

As the conflict in Sudan heads for its 500th day on Aug. 27, hopes for a halt to the hostilities currently rest with the US-sponsored peace talks that began in Geneva last month and will pick up again this week.

For now, however, the country of some 46 million remains mired in chaos and calamity, and its people stalked by death, disease and hunger.

- World’s largest internal displacement crisis

Sudan is currently facing the largest internal displacement crisis in the world, with an estimated 10.7 million people, including 2.1 million families, internally displaced in the country, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM).

James Elder, spokesperson for UNICEF, recently said some 5 million Sudanese children have been forced to flee their homes, “a staggering average of 10,000 girls and boys displaced every single day, making Sudan the world’s largest child displacement crisis.”

The majority of internally displaced persons (IDPs), 55%, are children under the age of 18 years.

About 2.1 million people have crossed into neighboring countries since April 15 last year, including to Egypt, Chad, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Libya and Uganda, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

According to the UNOCHA, more than 20% of Sudan’s population has fled their homes due to the ongoing war, either internally or across borders.

The country now hosts approximately 14% of the global IDP caseload, meaning that “approximately 1 in 7 IDPs worldwide are Sudanese,” according to the IOM.

The humanitarian crisis has been exacerbated by recent heavy rains and flooding, affecting 143,000 people across 12 of Sudan’s 18 states since June.

According to the UN agencies, some 27,000 more people have been displaced by the flooding.

- Hunger crisis

Food insecurity in Sudan has reached record levels, with 26 million people in acute hunger or in high levels of acute hunger, according to the UNOCHA.

“About 25.6 million people – over half of the population of Sudan – face crisis or worse levels of food insecurity … between June and September 2024, coinciding with the lean season,” the agency said.

Around 755,000 people in Sudan are on the brink of famine, it added.

Famine has been confirmed in one area, the Zamzam displacement camp near Al-Fasher in North Darfur, while around 13 localities in other parts of Sudan are at risk of famine.

The UN has warned that the “destruction of power, water and sanitation infrastructure in conflict areas has led to increased risk of diseases and contributed to famine risk.”

- Health crisis

According to the UN, every two out of three people in Sudan lack access to health care.

Less than 25% of health facilities are functioning in the worst-affected areas, with the rest of the facilities destroyed, the UNOCHA said.

“Since April 2023, there have been 88 attacks on health care, including on health facilities, ambulances and transport, assets, patients, and health workers, resulting in 55 deaths and 104 injuries,” the agency said.

A number of infectious and viral diseases have been plaguing the country, including cholera, meningitis and dengue.

Local authorities said a cholera outbreak has claimed at least 22 lives in recent weeks, while over 350 confirmed cases have been confirmed.

As sexual violence remains rampant in Sudan’s ongoing conflict, the UNOCHA said about 6.7 million people, particularly women and girls, are at risk of gender-based violence.

- Education crisis

Over 17 million school-aged children do not have access to safe education in Sudan, according to UNICEF.

Schools have remained closed for more than a year, while many have become shelters for displaced people.

“More than 110 schools and hospitals have been attacked since the beginning of the conflict, and hundreds of schools are used as shelters for the internally displaced, constraining access to education in areas where schools have been partially opened,” the UN agency said.

Attacks on schools have also claimed the lives of many children, such as last week’s shelling that hit a school and a marketplace in Kordofan state, killing five girls and wounding 20 children.