This week, international organizations sound alarm on Sudan health crisis. Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Government and M23 rebels meet for talks in Geneva. Human Rights Watch (HRW) Horn of Africa director calls on UN to Keep Peace Mission in South Sudan.
International Orgs Sound Alarm on Sudan’s Health Crisis
Several international organizations are sounding the alarm on Sudan’s disastrous health crisis and violence against women. On April 14, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a news release that it had verified 217 attacks on health care since 15 April 2023, with 2052 deaths and 810 injuries.
On the same day, Save the Children said official data showed 5.6 million births in Sudan since the start of the war in April 2023, meaning that 5,000 children a day are born in a country where millions are surviving on just one meal a day.
Mohamed Abdiladif, country director for Save the Children in Sudan, said, “These children are born in overcrowded shelters, under-equipped or damaged health facilities, or while their families are on the move.”
Meanwhile, UN Women on the same day pointed out that “Widespread killings, mass displacement, and systematic sexual violence have left 17.1 million women and girls in need of humanitarian assistance.”
These reports come after a UN report published on April 3 in which doctors in a key maternity hospital described helplessly watching mothers and babies die before their eyes.
DRC Government and M23 Rebels Meet for Talks in Geneva
The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and M23 rebels began their ninth round of peace talks in Geneva on April 14. Qatar and the United States are moderating the talks.
RFI reports that the beginning of the talks was difficult because delegates disagreed on the agenda and composition of delegations. The outlet added that the M23 members present included with six delegates and six experts, and struggled to have their full team accepted.
This development comes after the M23 has continued to seize territory in the country’s eastern provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, with the DRC’s army and its allies fighting to push the M23 back.
HRW’s Horn of Africa Director Calls on UN to Keep Peace Mission in South Sudan
On April 13, Laetitia Bader, Human Rights Watch (HRW)’s director in the Horn of Africa, published a commentary calling on the UN to keep its UN Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). The commentary comes as the UN Security Council will this week debate the mission’s renewal.
South Sudan’s conflict is between the military, which is loyal to Kiir, and insurgents believed to be allied with the suspended vice-president Riek Machar. on March 17, UNICEF said around 100,000 South Sudanese people had fled to Ethiopia in Jonglei state.
The mission, Bader noted, is mandated to protect civilians, facilitate humanitarian access, support the peace process and monitor human rights violations. She argued that, “The mandate renewal should be a done deal, but it is not.”
Bader observes that government forces have violently attacked civilian infrastructure in Upper Nile and Jonglei states. Meanwhile, fighting between government and opposition forces continues to kill and injure civilians in several states, with 169 people killed and 4,000 displaced in the Abiemnhom area of Unity state on March 1.
Bader said, “The need for a robust protection force and a UN mission that is able, physically and politically, to protect civilians and to ensure the delivery of lifesaving aid has never been greater.”
Keywords: Sudan, South Sudan, DRC, Congo, DR Congo, peace, conflict, conflict resolution, peace talks
Tara Abhasakun
Tara Abhasakun is Peace News Network (PNN)'s managing editor. She is journalist based in Christchurch, New Zealand, and formerly in Bangkok, Thailand. She has reported on a range of human rights issues involving youth protests in Thailand, as well as arts and culture. Tara's work has appeared in several outlets, including Al Jazeera and South China Morning Post.
