Latest news with #Khartoum
Zawya
2 days ago
- General
- Zawya
Safe spaces transform lives of displaced women in war torn Sudan
Since the outbreak of conflict on 15 April 2023, Sudan has witnessed one of the world's fastest-growing displacement crises. Over 12 million people have been forced to flee their homes as of 16 June 2025, including more than 2 million women and girls, many of whom are now living in overcrowded shelters or with host communities across the country. In Gadaref State, hundreds of thousands have sought refuge, placing immense pressure on services and resources—particularly for women facing heightened protection risks. When the war broke out, 35-year-old Marwa—not her real name—left Khartoum to seek refuge and safety. Like many internally displaced persons (IDPs), she found herself in Hay Al-Malik, a densely populated neighborhood in the heart of Gadaref State, sheltering thousands of displaced people by the ongoing conflict. Here, IDPs and host community members live side-by-side, often sharing houses due to soaring rents and limited resources. Marwa's early days were marked by intense psychological stress. Living with more than ten people in a small house without privacy, especially for women, left her feeling isolated and overwhelmed. Cultural differences deepened her sense of displacement, and she struggled to adapt. 'I rarely left the house or spoke to other women,' she shared. 'I didn't know how to adjust or where to turn.' A turning point came when Marwa heard about a new women's safe space established by Hope and Friendship for Development Organization (HOPE), in partnership with UN Women, and supported by the Government of Japan. Encouraged by outreach efforts in the community, she visited the Al-Malik Safe Space and immediately felt a sense of belonging. It was a space created by and for women—a place to talk, share, heal, and grow. With each visit, Marwa's confidence grew. She joined a life skills training and received psychosocial support that helped her regain emotional balance. She also participated in awareness sessions on harmful traditional practices, gaining tools to inform and uplift others. Over time, she became actively involved in managing activities alongside social workers, transforming herself from a participant into a leader. 'From the first day, I felt that this space belonged to us,' she said. 'It's our duty to protect it and keep it going.' Now, Marwa supports other displaced women and girls in accessing the safe space and envisions expanding it further. She emphasizes the need to include children, especially those with special needs, in future programming. She also expresses a strong desire to help sustain the space beyond the program's timeline, working with other women to preserve what they've built together. Marwa's story illustrates how access to a safe, inclusive space—combined with psychosocial and life skills support—can plant the seeds for long-term empowerment and resilience. With continued support from the Government of Japan and implementing partners, women like Marwa are not only rebuilding their own lives but helping others do the same. *Marwa's name has been changed to protect her privacy Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN Women - Africa.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Sudan in danger of self-destructing as conflict and famine reign
Sudan's war is in strategic stalemate. Each side stakes its hopes on a new offensive, a new delivery of weapons, a new political alliance, but neither can gain a decisive losers are the Sudanese people. Every month there are more who are hungry, displaced, Sudan armed forces triumphantly announced the recapture of central Khartoum in broadcast pictures of its leader, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, walking through the ruins of the capital's Republican Palace, which had been controlled by the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), since the earliest days of the war in April army deployed weapons newly acquired from Egypt, Turkey and other Middle Eastern countries including Qatar and Iran. But its offensive quickly stalled. The RSF, headed by Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as "Hemedti", responded with a devastating drone attack on Port Sudan, which is both the interim capital of the military government and also the main entry point for humanitarian were long-range sophisticated drones, which the army accuses the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of supplying - a charge the UAE rejects, along with well-documented reports that it has been backing the RSF during the 27-month conflict.A simple guide to Sudan's warFear, loss and hope in Sudan's ruined capital after army victoryBurhan and Hemedti - the two generals at the heart of the conflictThe RSF has also expanded operations to the south of struck a deal with Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, the veteran rebel commander of the Sudan People's Liberation Army-North, which controls the Nuba Mountains near the border with South forces combined may be able to make a push to the border with Ethiopia, hoping to open new supply the RSF has been besieging the capital of North Darfur, el-Fasher, which is defended by a coalition of Darfurian former rebels, known as the Joint Forces, allied with the of the fighters are ethnic Zaghawa, who have been in fierce conflict with the Arab groups that form the core of the RSF. Month after month of blockade, bombardment and ground attacks have created famine among the residents, with the people of the displaced camp of Zamzam RSF and its allied Arab militias have a terrifying record of massacre, rape and ethnic cleansing. Human rights organisations have accused it of genocide against the Massalit people of West communities in el-Fasher fear that if the Joint Forces are defeated, they will suffer savage reprisals at the hands of the pressure on el-Fasher is growing. Last week the RSF captured desert garrisons on the border with Libya held by the Joint military has accused forces loyal to Libyan strongman Gen Khalifa Haftar, who controls the east of the country and is also a reported beneficiary of Emirati support, of joining in the civilians, who six years ago managed the extraordinary feat of overthrowing the country's long-time leader Omar al-Bashir through non-violent protests, are in groupings are aligned with Burhan, with Hemedti, or trying to stake out a neutral position. They are all active on social media, polarised, acrimonious and neighbourhood committees that were the driving force of the civic revolution are clinging to life. Most have kept their political heads down, focusing instead on essential humanitarian activities. Known as "Emergency Response Rooms", aid workers recognise that they are the most efficient channel for life-saving many lost their funding when the administration of US President Donald Trump closed down USAID, and other donors have not stepped into the army and RSF both see any form of civic activism as a threat. They are cracking down, arresting, torturing and killing national aid workers and human rights is no credible peace UN's chief diplomat assigned to Sudan, former Algerian Prime Minister Ramtane Lamamra, formulated a peace plan that was premised on the assumption that the army would achieve a military that would be left to negotiate would be the disarmament of the RSF and the reconstruction of the country. That is totally has a big diplomatic advantage over Hemedti because the UN has recognised the military side as the government of Sudan, even when it did not control the national attempt to launch a parallel administration for the vast territories controlled by the RSF has gained little credibility. Foreign ministers at a conference in London in April, hosted by British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, failed to agree a path to peace. The conference chairs had to settle for a statement that covered familiar this occasion, as before, progress was blocked because Saudi Arabia and the UAE could not acknowledge that Sudan's war is an African problem that needs an Arab road to peace in Khartoum runs through Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Egypt, the big question is whether Burhan is able to distance himself from Sudan's Bashir, the Islamist movement was in power for 30 years, and established a formidable and well-funded organisation, that still Islamists mobilised combat brigades that were key to the army's recent victory in President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi supports Burhan and wants him to sideline the Islamists, but knows that he cannot push the Sudanese general too question takes on added salience with Israel's attack on Iran and the Islamists' fear that they are facing an irreversible other big question is whether the UAE will step back from supporting the RSF lost Khartoum, some hoped that Abu Dhabi might seek a compromise - but within weeks the RSF was deploying drones that appear to have come from the UAE is also facing strategic challenges, as it is an outlier in the Arab world in its alignment with wants to see Sudan divided. But the reality of the war points towards a de facto partition between bitterly opposed warring camps. Meanwhile, the world's largest and deepest humanitarian emergency worsens with no end in than half of Sudan's 45 million people are displaced. Nearly a million are in sides continue to restrict aid agencies' access to the starving. The UN's appeal for $4.2bn (£3bn) for essential aid was only 13.3% funded in late and among the Arab world's powerbrokers, Sudan is no-one's priority, an orphan in a region that is is a country where the multilateral organisations - the United Nations and the African Union - could still be can remind all of their commitments to human rights and human life, and that it is in no-one's interest to see Sudan's catastrophe continue to long-suffering Sudanese people surely deserve that quantum of de Waal is the executive director of the World Peace Foundation at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in the US. Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
The Independent
14-06-2025
- General
- The Independent
‘I was lying between a lorry and a train': One refugee's two-year journey from Sudan to the UK
It took Ismail two years to reach the UK from Sudan, where he fled a life defined by conflict and a constant struggle to survive. Two years into a brutal civil war, Sudan is in the grip of what the UN has called the world's 'worst humanitarian crisis'. The latest figures from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs show that 30.4 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, while more than 12 million people have been displaced since April 2023. Violence erupted in Sudan in April 2023 when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders broke out in the capital, Khartoum, and spread to other regions. Ismail, 37, began his journey from the city of Al-Fashir, where he was born and raised. The city, in the Darfur region of southwestern Sudan, is now under constant bombardment and has mostly been cut off from the outside world. The first leg of Ismail's journey took him across the Sahara, one of the world's largest and most unforgiving deserts. Along the way, the lorry carrying him and others broke down. It took around two months for Ismail to reach Libya, where tens of thousands of migrants and refugees undertake the perilous crossing to Europe across the Mediterranean Sea each year. In Libya, Ismail paid the equivalent of around £1,000 in Libyan currency for a place on a boat to Italy. The route is one of the deadliest in the world for migrants and refugees. More than 2,200 people lost their lives attempting the crossing in 2024 alone, according to the UN. 'They have very big boats from the European Union,' Ismail told the Independent. 'They know migrants try to cross the Mediterranean.' From there, Ismail continued his journey by train from Milan to Paris. But the final stretch—from Calais to the UK—also put his life in danger. 'There are trains that carry lorries to the UK,' he explained. 'I went to the station. The police and security didn't see me. I just jumped on and lay between a lorry and the train.' After passing through the Channel Tunnel and arriving in Dover, Ismail was stopped by British police. He was then taken to asylum seeker accommodation in Liverpool. By that point, he hadn't spoken to his family in more than two years. They didn't even know he had made it to the UK. 'They were very happy that I was safe and alive,' he said. Ismail risked his life to make the journey in hopes of supporting his family, many of whom lived in Zamzam refugee camp after their home in Al-Fashir was destroyed by missile strikes. 'Even for my brothers, there is no place to go to work to bring the money, thats why I am trying to help them' he said. But the Zamzam Refugee Camp, one of the largest in Sudan, is far from safe. It is frequently targeted by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary force which evolved from so-called Janjaweed militias. 'They saw people dying in front of them,' Ismail said. 'Even people I know—my relatives—were killed in Zamzam.' Ismail, who once worked as a kitchen porter, now has a job in a warehouse in North London. The money he's been able to send home has made a tangible difference: it helped his family buy land and build a home in Al-Fashir. 'When I got the right to work [in the UK], I managed to save some money and bought a piece of land in Al-Fashir. I built a house there. It was really good,' he said. But the war shattered that small triumph, as his family was forced to flee the home he had worked so hard to provide. After his five-year refugee status expired, Ismail was granted British citizenship. This allowed him to return briefly to Sudan last year, where he got married. His wife is now heavily pregnant and living in a refugee camp in Uganda, after Ismail helped her flee the violence. 'I tried to bring her here before she gives birth, but I haven't found a solution. I want her to come here and live with me forever,' he said. Under current UK rules, refugees or people granted humanitarian protection may apply for family reunification if they were already in a relationship or had children before fleeing their country. But the process is often long, complex, and uncertain. In the past two years, at least 24,000 people have been reported killed in Sudan, according to the UN, but activists believe the true toll is far higher. Meanwhile aid camps have been burned to the ground and children are thought to have been raped. 'People don't know what's happening in Sudan at the moment or anytime in the past, because there are no journalists to cover what's going on, so that's why,' Ismail said.
Arab News
13-06-2025
- Health
- Arab News
Cholera spreads to 13 states in Sudan, including Darfur
GENEVA: The World Health Organization warned on Friday that cholera cases in Sudan are set to rise and could spread to neighboring countries, including Chad, which hosts hundreds of thousands of refugees from Sudan's civil war in crowded conditions. The more than two-year-old war between the Sudanese army — which took full control of Khartoum state this week — and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has spread hunger and disease and destroyed most health facilities. Drone attacks in recent weeks have interrupted electricity and water supplies in the capital, Khartoum, driving up cases there. Dr. Shible Sahbani, WHO Representative for Sudan, called for humanitarian corridors and temporary ceasefires to allow mass vaccination campaigns against cholera and other disease outbreaks, such as Dengue fever and malaria. 'Our concern is that cholera is spreading,' Dr. Shible Sahbani, WHO Representative for Sudan, said in Geneva by video link from Port Sudan. He said that cholera had reached 13 states in Sudan, including North and South Darfur, which border Chad, and that 1,854 people had already died in the latest wave as the dangerous rainy season sets in. 'We assume that if we don't invest in the prevention measures, in surveillance, in the early warning system, in vaccination and in educating the population, for sure, the neighboring countries, but not only that, it can maybe spread to the sub-region,' he said. He called for humanitarian corridors and temporary ceasefires to allow mass vaccination campaigns against cholera and other disease outbreaks, such as Dengue fever and malaria. Cholera, a severe, potentially fatal diarrheal disease, spreads quickly when sewage and drinking water are not treated adequately. Sahbani said that this posed a high risk for Sudanese refugees, including some who had survived attacks on a displacement camp in Darfur, and who are living in cramped, makeshift border sites on the Chadian side of the border. 'In overcrowded, unsanitary conditions, a potential outbreak could be devastating,' said François Batalingaya, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Chad, at the same briefing, describing the conditions for some 300,000 people stranded there with few aid services due to funding shortages. The disease has not yet been confirmed in Chad, although a WHO spokesperson said that suspected cases had been reported in Geneina, Sudan, just 10 km away. Sahbani also said that disease surveillance was low on the Libyan border and that it could possibly spread there. Case fatality rates have fallen in recent weeks in and around the capital, Khartoum, thanks to an oral cholera vaccination campaign that started this month, Sahbani said. UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said Sudan had become a grim example of impunity and the world's indifference. Fletcher called on 'all with influence' to do more to safeguard civilians and to enable humanitarian aid to reach millions in the war-shattered country. Despite repeated international pledges to protect Sudan's people, 'their country has become a grim example of twin themes of this moment: indifference and impunity,' he said in a statement. Fletcher, the UN's Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, underlined that half of Sudan's population, some 30 million people, need lifesaving aid in the world's largest humanitarian crisis. 'Indiscriminate shelling, drone attacks, and other air strikes kill, injure, and displace people in staggering numbers. The health system has been smashed to pieces, with cholera, measles, and other diseases spreading,' he said. The human cost of the war, including 'horrific' sexual violence, has been repeatedly condemned, 'but talk has not translated into real protection for civilians or safe, unimpeded and sustained access for humanitarians,' he said. 'Where is the accountability? Where is the funding?'
CNN
13-06-2025
- Politics
- CNN
The human suffering of Sudan's brutal civil war
Christiane Amanpour speaks with photojournalist Giles Clarke about his recent visits to Sudan and his photographs documenting the devastation wrought by an ongoing civil war.
