South Sudan: Warring in Sudan’s Urban Areas Severely Disrupts Key to Economy, Says UN Official

Geneva — Sudan’s war has disrupted its urban economy, once a mainstay, with formal wage employment sharply declining, pushing many into precarious self-employment or informal labour, offering scant security with health and education equally deteriorating, says a UN development official.

Luca Renda, resident representative of the United Nations Development Programme in Sudan, spoke to journalists in Geneva about a new UNDP report: “The Socioeconomic Impact of Armed Conflict on Sudanese Urban Households.”.

“Nearly half of the Sudanese population, around 26 million people, are currently facing food insecurity, with the threat of famine looming for a significant portion of the country,” said Renda.

“Additionally, the number of internally displaced people in Sudan has surpassed 11 million, underscoring the severe and widespread impact of the ongoing conflict.”

Since mid-April 2023, the conflict has engulfed the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces group known as RSF, which has resulted in more than 20,000 deaths and displaced nearly 13 million people, according to the UN.

The army is led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the ruling Sovereign Council, also known as SAF, and the RSF, led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

Ramesh Rajasingham, director of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told the UN Security Council on Nov. 12 that, 18 months into this conflict, Sudan’s people continue to endure “unimaginable suffering” amid unrelenting brutal violence.

“There are no signs of respite. Indeed, troubling projections suggest the conflict is poised to escalate yet further. We continue to receive reports of civilian casualties caused by heavy fighting in populated areas.

“We also continue to receive reports of shocking atrocities – most recently of mass killings and horrific sexual violence in Aj Jazirah State–a sickening hallmark of this conflict.”

–       Civilians fleeing

Civilians continue to flee for their lives both within Sudan and across its borders in what is now the world’s largest displacement crisis.

As fighting raged in West Darfur and North Darfur, 58,000 people crossed into Chad alone in October, bringing the number of new arrivals in eastern Chad to more than 710,000 people.

More than 836,000 people have arrived in South Sudan from Sudan since the start of the crisis, including more than 644,000 refugee returnees, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

“The opening of the Adre crossing from Chad in August has provided an important lifeline for people in the areas it serves,” said Rajasingham.

Over the past three months, more than 300 aid trucks have crossed into Sudan via the Adre crossing, carrying various forms of assistance for more than 1.3 million people.

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“It is imperative that this crossing remains open for humanitarian supplies and personnel for as long as is necessary,” said the UN official.

However, Hassan Hamid Hassan, Sudan’s envoy to the United Nations in Geneva, told journalists shortly before the report was released, that the Adre Crossing was being exploited to “transport weapons” by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, which had initially led to the crossing’s closure in February.

–       Monitoring activities

“During these three months, we were monitoring all the activities of humanitarian convoys closely through the corridor, and we got the necessary proof that the corridor is still under abuse, is still being used for other purposes than humanitarian aid,” Hassan told UN accredited journalists.

“The imminent threat of the utilization of this corridor for the supplement of the militia is there, but at the same time, the good reasons (humanitarian aid) behind the resumption of this corridor, once again, is still there,” he said.

“We don’t want to stand against the delivery of immediate humanitarian, life-saving needs to our people.”

The Sudan envoy said, however, that Adre is expensive logistically. He claimed that eight alternative corridors were open, including a cost-effective river route from South Sudan and a shorter land route from Chad.

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