Facing Multiple Crises, Sudan Gets a Helping Hand

ADF STAFF

In the grips of crisis upon crisis, Sudan declared a three-month state of emergency in early September, as the country experienced its worst flooding in 30 years.

Torrential rains and flash floods have affected more than 875,000 people and resulted in at least 150 deaths. Thousands of farms and tens of thousands of crops were destroyed at the peak of Sudan’s agricultural season, as thousands of families experienced greater food insecurity.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) pledged $60 million in humanitarian flood relief on October 30.

“USAID will work with non-governmental organizations and international partners to help address urgent needs caused by the historic flooding, which has destroyed thousands of acres of crops, homes, and schools across Sudan, and left nearly a million people in need of humanitarian aid,” the agency said in a press release. “This support will include life-saving emergency assistance with food, shelter, health, and livelihoods.”

The U.S. is also working to give access to clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene supplies to prevent waterborne diseases that come along with flooding. As the largest donor of humanitarian assistance to Sudan, the U.S. has given more than $496 million in 2020 to support those impacted by floods, drought, desert locusts, the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout.

Inflation hit almost 170% in August, according to Sudan’s Central Bureau of Statistics, while shortages of necessities including food, health care and gasoline caused price spikes that have affected the country’s most vulnerable.

“Most families in Sudan already spent around 65% of their income on food,” said spokesperson Jens Laerke of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “So these price hikes lead to increased hunger and less education, health and other services that families deprioritize as they try to cope with the economic hardship.”

The U.S. Embassy in Khartoum said on October 4 it was working with the U.N. International Organization for Migration to prepare 30,000 blankets, 30,000 water containers, and 1,500 rolls of plastic sheeting — enough to provide emergency shelter for 75,000 people — for distribution to tens of thousands of Sudanese affected by flooding.

All of this comes while Sudan continues to grapple with its young government’s transition to democracy, which began in 2019 with the ousting of dictator Omar al-Bashir.

The U.S. has provided aid to support the transition as well, with acting USAID Administrator John Barsa pledging $356.2 million in assistance on June 25.

On October 19, the U.S. announced plans to remove the country from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, where it has been since 1993. The move would return to Sudan access to foreign aid, debt relief and military assistance.

Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok remains focused on navigating his country’s troubled waters.

“This period of transition of the young, glorious revolution is experiencing many difficulties, which call for the support of the international community,” he told the U.N. General Assembly on September 26. “It is our hope that we will be able to accomplish projects of reconstruction and reform so that Sudan will become once again an active player on the regional stage and to contribute to the international community and work to create the future we want.”