“The women who speak to us from El Fasher, at the heart of the latest catastrophe in Sudan, tell us that they endured starvation…displacement, rape and bombing,” Anna Mutavati, UN Women Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, told reporters in Geneva. “Pregnant women gave birth in the street while the last maternity wards were looted and destroyed. »
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia captured the North Darfur state capital, El Fasher, after more than 500 days of siege in late October, amid reports of widespread atrocities, including summary executions and sexual violence.
Fighting broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese armed forces and the RSF paramilitaries when the transition to civilian rule failed, following the overthrow of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir four years earlier. The heavy fighting that followed devastated communities, displaced millions of people and exacerbated an already grave humanitarian crisis.
Ms Mutavati said the situation is worsening significantly as fighting spreads around the city, causing mass displacement. Thousands of women and girls have fled to other locations in North Darfur, including Tawila, located around 70 kilometers away, Korma and Malit, where the humanitarian presence is “very rare”.
On Monday, the UN aid coordination office OCHA said nearly 89,000 people have fled the region, some seeking refuge near the Sudan-Chad border.
“What the women are telling us is that during their horrific journey… every step they took to fetch water, collect firewood or queue for food carries a high risk of sexual violence,” the UN Women representative said. “There is growing evidence that rape is deliberately and systematically used as a weapon of war. »
Nowhere is safe
Warning that women’s bodies “have just become a crime scene in Sudan”, Ms Mutavati insisted that there are “no safe spaces” where women can find protection or access basic psychosocial care.
“Basic dignity has also collapsed,” insisted the UN Women official, explaining that in North Darfur, a single pack of sanitary napkins costs around $27, while humanitarian cash aid amounts to just under $150 per month for an average family of six.
Ms Mutavati spoke of “impossible decisions” facing families “forced to choose between food, medicine and dignity”.
“The basic needs of women and girls are at the very bottom of this list,” she said.
Ms Mutavati also said that in Sudan – as in other crises – “women and girls eat the least and last”.
“Most women and girls do not eat at all in Sudan… Women often skip meals so their children can eat, while adolescent girls often receive the smallest share, compromising their nutrition and long-term health,” she said.
“In besieged and isolated areas like Darfur or Kordofan, it is often women and girls who are fighting to survive,” Ms. Mutavati added, citing reports that women were “searching for wild leaves and berries to make soup” while facing additional risks of violence.
Famine sets in
In early November, the latest UN-backed IPC food security analysis confirmed famine conditions in El Fasher and the South Kordofan state capital, Kadugli.
Ms Mutavati also said health workers are reporting an increase in cases of severe acute malnutrition among infants, often linked to the reduced breastfeeding capacity of their starving mothers.
“The hunger women suffer has a ripple effect,” she warned.
Calling for an end to violence, broader humanitarian access and increased support for women-led soup kitchens and other aid providers, Ms. Mutavati stressed that women and girls in Sudan “are the measure of our common humanity.”
“Every day that the world delays action in Sudan, another woman gives birth under fire or buries her child in hunger, or disappears without justice,” she concluded.
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
