On Thursday 24 April, humanitarian workers and European Commission staff painted a tragic picture of the humanitarian and security situation in Sudan after two years of civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, during an exchange of views with MEPs from the European Parliament’s Committee on Development (DEVE) and Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET).
Once again, the speakers underscored the unprecedented scale of the crisis, marked by massive displacement, widespread food insecurity, large-scale sexual violence and the virtual collapse of the healthcare system.
Claire San Filippo, coordinator with Médecins Sans Frontières, gave an account of the reality on the ground: rape, famine, attacks on hospitals and humanitarian workers... She called on the European Union to exert greater political pressure on the parties to the conflict to remove all obstacles to the delivery of aid, and to provide massive funding for the humanitarian response, particularly as the rainy season approaches.
In addition, Andrea Koulaimaha, the European Commission's Director for Humanitarian Aid Operations for sub-Saharan Africa, acknowledged that limited access is seriously hampering the effectiveness of European-funded aid operations.
“The obstacles to stepping up [the delivery of aid, editor’s note] are both access and resources. And the two are related. The access conditions make it not an effective operation as such. It’s not a cost-effective operation”, she declared.
And she added: “I’m talking both about the obstacles to humanitarian operators being able to go to locations, but also obstacles for the private sector to move. [...] Part of the response that we’re giving is through cash, through the emergency response rooms, through very localised actors. But that implies that there are also possibilities for tradesmen to arrive. Places like Al Fasher have been under siege”.
Several MEPs from the S&D, EPP and Renew Europe groups called for intensified diplomatic action, increased mobilisation of resources and support for international justice mechanisms. They all stressed the urgency of a ceasefire and the need for a transition to legitimate civilian power in order to restore peace and sovereignty to the Sudanese people. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)