Sudan is currently facing one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory, with the United Nations describing it as the largest internal displacement crisis in the world. The country of 48 million people is in the midst of a forgotten war that has left more than half of its population in need of humanitarian assistance.
The conflict, which began on April 15 last year between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has resulted in thousands of deaths and forced over 8.5 million people to flee their homes in search of safety.
Experts believe that there is no end in sight to the fighting, which has devastated the country and left its health system in shambles. The situation has been further exacerbated by a lack of funding for humanitarian efforts, with only 3.1 percent of the required funds being raised by January.
The international community has been criticized for turning a blind eye to the crisis, with only a few humanitarian organizations still operating in the region. The anniversary of the war has been described as a “milestone of shame” by aid workers, who believe that the catastrophe has been allowed to worsen due to lack of intervention.
Despite the grim outlook, there is still hope among the displaced population for peace to be achieved. Amer Sohaiel, a man taking shelter in Darfur’s Abu Shouk camp, expressed his simple hope that God will help them achieve peace this year.
The war in Sudan is not just a local conflict but a global issue that threatens to set a wider region aflame. International mediation efforts have so far been unsuccessful, but there is a call for consensus across Africa and the Middle East that state collapse is in no one’s interest.