A Plan International staff member who works in White Nile State, Sudan, had just filled out his leave form and was on his way home to Darfur, to marry the love of his life after the Eid celebrations when the conflict began. He never made it past Khartoum.
More than a year later, and Hassan* has yet to make it home to see his fiancé. The journey home remains too dangerous for him to embark on. So he remains in his duty station and helps the displaced and host communities however he can. He remains hopeful that when the conflict subsides, he will be able to travel home and see his family.
“ My entire plan was ruined. When I realised I would not make it to Darfur, I decided to go back to White Nile but the war had already spread so I could now not reach White Nile.” says Tarig.
“ I forgot about my wedding and now my only concern was if my family was safe. Darfur was already a difficult area when the war started. The area has no mobile network and no communication. It took two months after the war started, for me to reach and speak with my family.” He adds.
It will be another Eid Tarig is marking without his family. He, as is the case with many other families, remain separated by the latest conflict in Sudan that has more than 8 million people displaced, half of the population in need of humanitarian assistance and over 18 million people unable to meet their basic food needs.
“ It is a tough time. Doing your work to take your mind away from your own problems, still thinking about your family, worrying that I would not see my family again because many people were losing their entire family in the war. After two months, I finally spoke to my sister. She called me. She was so happy I was alive.”
April 15, 2024, will mark one year since the start of the latest conflict in Sudan. A country that now not only faces the world’s largest displacement crisis, but also the world’s largest internal displacement crisis for children, with nearly 5 million children forcibly displaced.
As the conflict spreads to new areas inside Sudan, families are constantly on the move, seeking safety. The high numbers of people fleeing their homes means that after facing unimaginable trauma, many are enduring overcrowding and poor conditions at displacement camps.
“ My fiancé is still in Darfur. I haven’t seen her since the war. I only managed to speak to her after five months because she and her family travelled to an area with no network. She has lost some family members since the conflict started but she is still strong. It’s still our plan to get married. We hope the roads will open and I will manage to get to Darfur.”
Plan International has, since the onset of the war, responded by providing food, and water assistance as well as mobile, child-friendly spaces, where children are encouraged to play, draw, sign and use techniques such as storytelling to support them process their trauma. Despite ongoing challenges such as insecurity, lack of access to communities and resources, poor network and phone connectivity, lack of cash and limited technical and humanitarian staff on the ground that continue to affect the delivery of humanitarian assistance in many parts of the country, Hassan* and his colleagues continue to be at the forefront in delivering this much-needed assistance to communities living through the conflict.
“ My background in public health – humanitarian facing – is a calling to support people so we encourage ourselves to do our best to reach vulnerable families, especially children. We are responding with health, water, sanitation and nutrition projects for the South Sudan refugees as well as in the gathering points for Sudan IDPs. We are not giving up on our country and are praying the world doesn’t forget us.”
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Plan International is using this one-year mark to increase visibility and advocacy around the ongoing conflict that has largely been deemed as a ‘forgotten emergency”. April 15 , 2023, a moment to highlight the devastating impact of the conflict and advocate for stakeholders to remember Sudan and its people.
Plan International has been present in Sudan for more than 45 years. We are currently responding in North Darfur, White Nile, Kassala Al Gadaref and Kordofan. PIan International is also supporting people displaced by the crisis across the region in Chad, CAR, Ethiopia, Egypt and South Sudan. Countries neighbouring Sudan impacted by this new emergency were already hosting large refugee, migrant and internally displaced populations before the crisis.
Humanitarian programmes in these countries remain severely underfunded.
