Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
WFP
Khartoum (Agenzia Fides) - Twelve million displaced people and tens of thousands of victims have been reported since the conflict broke out in April 2022 between the army on the one hand and the paramilitaries on the other.
That is why the Comboni missionaries, together with other secular and religious humanitarian organizations, are now calling for a ceasefire, humanitarian aid and an arms embargo in the ongoing war. Pope Francis himself in the Angelus prayer on Sunday 16 February, underlining the "very serious humanitarian situation" had renewed the request "to the belligerent parties to stop this war, which does so much harm to the people and to the future of the country", inviting "ways of peace to be found soon to build the future of dear Sudan".
The situation has gotten out of control and is causing the suffering of millions of people in the form of food shortages, disease and sexual violence, which is why missionaries and secular and religious aid organizations are constantly intervening. Famine has been reported in several regions, including the camps for internally displaced people in North Darfur and in the western Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan. It is estimated that more than 8 million people have been forced to flee their homes in Sudan, while around 3.5 million have fled to neighboring countries since April 2023.
Caritas Internationalis, Catholic International Development Charity (CAFOD), ACT Alliance and Norwegian Church Aid have called for an urgent increase in international aid to Sudan, echoing the appeal of the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). “The UN appeal comes at a particularly critical time. To date, more than 40 percent of global funding for life-saving programs in Sudan has come from the United States. Given the suspension caused by the US government's decision to temporarily halt USAID operations, other governments must urgently step in,” said the CAFOD humanitarian officer.
The news that the Sudanese paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has signed an agreement in recent days with other rebel militias and allied political parties to form a parallel government in the areas of the country under its control further exacerbates the precarious situation. The agreement was signed last Sunday in Nairobi, Kenya, where the leaders of the groups in question had already met last week (see Fides, 19/2/2025). The RSF and its allies have promised to form a government marked by "peace and unity": both during the war and in the past, however, they have been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 25/2/2025)
