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UN Humanitarian Chief: We are “failing” Sudan

Martin Griffiths says “one of the major impacts” of war in Ukraine is less attention on other crises

The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs has told HARDtalk that “Sudan is the place
the humanitarian community is failing more than elsewhere”. Martin Griffiths said that Sudan, which has been engulfed in conflict for five months, is “obviously the top of the list” of humanitarian priorities.

Speaking to Stephen Sackur, Griffiths lamented the “devastating difference” between the 18 million people in the country who required aid and the 3.5 million who were actually receiving it. He said that humanitarians are having to make life-and-death decisions, such as “whether it's still safe enough to keep a hospital going in Khartoum”. Lack of funding is a major concern, with every 1% cut in food rations putting “400,000 more people at risk of starvation”.

The senior UN official, who serves as Emergency Relief Chief, also noted that it was “very difficult to get media attention to Sudan”. He observed that “one of the major impacts of the Ukraine war” is that there is less attention being given to other humanitarian crises around the world.

According to the UN, at least 5,000 people have been killed and 12,000 injured since the war in Sudan began in April. More than 5 million have been forced to flee their homes and 80% of health services are not functioning.

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3 minutes