New York: MSF briefs UN Security Council on Sudan A catastrophic "war on people"
Christopher Lockyear, Secretary General of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), briefed the United Nations Security Council on the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the war in Sudan, calling for an end to violence against civilians and a new commitment to deliver lifesaving aid.
The war in Sudan is above all a "war on people," Lockyear said. The Sudanese Armed Forces have repeatedly and indiscriminately bombed densely populated areas. The Rapid Support Forces and allied militias have unleashed a campaign of brutality, marked by systematic sexual violence, abductions, mass killings, the looting of humanitarian aid, and the occupation of medical facilities. Both sides have laid siege to towns, destroyed vital civilian infrastructure, and blocked humanitarian aid.
According to humanitarian principles, MSF provides medical care in 11 of Sudan's states, on both sides of the conflict. MSF teams in Sudan have warned of alarming levels of malnutrition in many areas, while infectious and vaccine-preventable diseases are rising. The coming rainy season underlines the urgency of ensuring that people in war-torn areas receive food and medical supplies.
MSF's message to the Council is that the war in Sudan cannot continue to be waged with shameless disregard for civilian lives. After nearly two years, the international response has been far too limited due to obstructions by the warring parties and a lack of accountability, resources and leadership.
"While statements are made in this chamber, civilians remain unseen, unprotected, bombed, besieged, raped, displaced, deprived of food, of medical care, of dignity," Lockyear said. "The humanitarian response falters, crippled by bureaucracy, by insecurity, by hesitation, and by what threatens to become the largest divestment in the history of humanitarian aid."
Lockyear called instead for a new commitment to protect civilians and meet humanitarian needs.
"The crisis in Sudan demands a fundamental shift away from the failed approaches of the past," he said. "Millions of lives depend on it."
MSF UNSC Briefing on the Humanitarian Situation in Sudan.docx
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Nkosi Mahlangu
About Doctors Without Borders (MSF)
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is a global network of principled medical and other professionals who specialise in medical humanitarian work, driven by our common humanity and guided by medical ethics. We strive to bring emergency medical care to people caught in conflicts, crises, and disasters in more than 70 countries worldwide.
In South Africa, the organisation is recognised as one of the pioneers of providing Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) in the public sector and started the first HIV programmes in South Africa in 1999. Until today, the focus of MSF’s interventions in the country has primarily been on developing new testing and treatment strategies for HIV/AIDS and TB in Eshowe (Kwa-Zulu Natal) and Khayelitsha (Western Cape).
In Tshwane, we run a migration project, and we offer medical and psychosocial care to migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, who struggle to access public health services under South Africa’s increasingly restrictive.
Previously we offered free, high-quality, confidential medical care to survivors of SGBV in Rustenburg.
To learn more about our work in South Africa, please visit this page on our website (www.msf.org.za). To support MSF’s work:
- SMS “JOIN” to 42110 to donate R30 Once-off
- Visit https://www.msf.org.za/donate