♦ Sudan: This week’s news in brief ♦

A compact digest of the past week’s most-read highlights, from the heart of Sudan. Subscribe to receive this digest weekly in your inbox.

Sudan Youth conference: ‘War an attempt to beat Sudanese back into submission’
 
07/03/2024 – ENTEBBE. The founding conference of the Sudanese Youth Network for Ending War and Establishing Democratic Civil Transformation in Sudan was held over four days in the Ugandan city of Entebbe. More than 160 Sudanese youth came from Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Chad, and Egypt, to discuss ways to bring an end to the ongoing conflict.
 
The conference produced a series of recommendations aimed to halt the ongoing conflict, provide humanitarian aid to affected regions, advocate for youth involvement in civil political processes, and set forth the path to transitional justice. Youth network member Mohamed El Doum explained that “there will be practical steps to form youth networks in countries where there is a diaspora presence, as well as in Sudan, after which we will begin to implement the conference’s outcomes.

Sudan govt to open borders and airports to humanitarian aid
 
06/03/2024 – PORT SUDAN / EL FASHER. Following intense national and international pressure, the Sudanese government informed the United Nations that it will open several border crossings with Chad, Egypt, and South Sudan, to allow the transport of “specified humanitarian aid”.
 
Prior to this announcement, the Sudanese government has obstructed delivery of aid, especially via Chad, citing concerns that the routes could be used for arms supply to the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF). In the meantime, the humanitarian catastrophe is deepening by the day, leaving thousands of people teetering on the edge of survival. According to the Foreign Ministry’s statement, “the government renews its pledges and commitments to facilitate the access of humanitarian aid to those affected”. Obstruction of aid could constitute a crime against humanity.

Save the Children calls on int’l community to prevent death of 230,000 children and new mothers in Sudan
15/03/2024 – LONDON. Nearly 230,000 children, pregnant women and new mothers could die in the coming months due to hunger unless urgent, life-saving funding is released to respond to the massive and worsening crisis in Sudan, Save the Children says.
 
Sudanese child killed in Chad refugee camp attack
14/03/2024 – IBTENKI CAMP / ADRÉ. A Sudanese child was shot dead in the Ibtenki camp for Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad, with another refugee sustaining injuries from stray bullets.
 
Sudan war: El Burhan visits Omdurman, Egypt ‘may host talks’
13/03/2024 – OMDURMAN / CAIRO. Army Commander Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan visited the Corps of Engineers in Omdurman. Abdallah Hamdok, chair of the Civil Democratic Forces alliance, said that the Egyptian government “may host a meeting” between the warring parties.
 
Sudan war: deadly attacks in El Gezira ‘may force civilians to take up arms’
09/03/2024 – HASAHEISA. Reports about RSF assaulting and killing people in El Gezira continue to be posted on social media. Twelve residents of different villages were killed by RSF troops in just two days. Local people launched the El Gezira Call, urging an immediate stop to the violence amid fears that residents may take up arms to defend themselves.
 
UN Security Council calls for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan
09/03/2024 – NEW YORK / PORT SUDAN / GENEVA. The UN Security Council (UNSC) called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Sudan during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan as the situation in the country deteriorates, with millions of people threatened by severe hunger. 
 
Int’l Women’s Day in Sudan commemorated, not celebrated
08/03/2024 – KAMPALA / PORT SUDAN. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Radio Dabanga spoke with women’s rights activists Jalila Khamees and Zeina Osman, medic Nada Sayed, and poet Nawal El Sheikh about the situation of Sudanese women, men, families, and society in light of nearly 11 months of war in Sudan.
 
UN Sudan report highlights ‘atrocity after atrocity’
07/03/2024 – NEW YORK / ADRÉ / EL GENEINA. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Representative to the United Nations, brought attention to the harrowing findings of the recently released five-member UN Panel of Experts report on Sudan, in a solemn address preceding the UNSC consultations.
 
WFP chief: ‘Sudan war risks creating world’s largest hunger crisis’
06/03/2024 – JUBA. The humanitarian tragedy of Sudan’s war has shattered millions of lives and created the world’s largest displacement crisis. “Now this catastrophe also risks becoming the world’s largest hunger crisis, unless fighting stops,” UN World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain warned.
 
Business leader: War has killed 70% of commercial activity in Sudan
05/03/2024 – ADDIS ABABA. The ongoing war has destroyed much of Sudan’s factories, commercial venues, and infrastructure. A quarter of a million jobs were lost in the Bahri industrial zone alone, according to the Executive Director of Global Sudan, Moez Saleh.
 
Chad-Sudan aid supply ban leaves Darfur families ‘teetering on the edge’
04/03/2024 – ANTALYA / PORT SUDAN. Sudan’s acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ali El Sadig, has voiced opposition to the delivery of humanitarian aid to Sudan across the border from Chad. He asserted that “it was proven that the Chadian border was used for arms transfers to the RSF.”