Cafod has launched a Sudan crisis appeal warning that war has forced millions of people to flee their homes as fears of famine grow.
With violence persisting into its second year, Cafod described the humanitarian situation as “deteriorating rapidly, with 25 million Sudanese in need of immediate assistance”.
Telley Sadia, Cafod country representative for Sudan, said, “Famine looms ominously, threatening to become the worst crisis in living memory.” He reiterated the need for a ceasefire and more humanitarian aid.
Since the war between rival military factions broke out a year ago in Khartoum, Cafod has continued to send financial support to local partners to urgently scale up their emergency response, reported Sadia.
Local partners “are not only supporting people who have been forced from their homes within Sudan, they are also supporting refugees from neighbouring countries who have previously sought refuge in Sudan.” And partners are also responding to crisis in South Sudan, where a large number of families escaping the fighting in Sudan have crossed the border. “Forced to leave behind jobs, personal belongings and loved ones, these vulnerable people urgently need shelter, food and water,” he said.
Meanwhile, a poll on public understanding of the “world’s largest” crisis has revealed that 95 per cent of Brits do not realise that Sudan is currently experiencing the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. This is despite half the country’s population needing urgent emergency assistance. More than three-quarters of the British public, 77 per cent, were not aware that the United Nations has warned of a potential famine in Sudan. The poll was conducted by YouGov and published on 2 May by Cafod.
On 24 April CAFOD Director Christine Allen described the Sudan situation as, “a devastating crisis that is struggling to get attention.” Resources and prayers have been produced by CAFOD for parish and school fundraising. More broadly, at a funding conference for Sudan held on 15 April in Paris, only half of the $4 billion needed was promised by richer countries.
On 1 May, Bishop Paul Swarbrick, the Lead Catholic Bishop for Africa, and Bishop Nick Baines, the Church of England’s Lead Bishop for Foreign Affairs, issued a joint statement on the conflict in Sudan, lamenting that the war is “a forgotten conflict with no winners”. They urged the UK government and the international community, “to do what you can to bring about an immediate ceasefire and to ensure unhindered humanitarian access; it is so desperately needed to avert a further catastrophic humanitarian hunger crisis.”
The UNHCR also estimates that almost 25 million people – around half of Sudan’s population – are in urgent need of help. Unless the violence ends and humanitarian aid is increased, recent research suggests that eight million people could be at risk of famine by June 2024.
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