Parties to the conflict must end collective punishment and enable access to life-saving telecommunications. In the midst of the devastating humanitarian crisis that is fast deteriorating in Sudan, we, representing 94 humanitarian, civil society, human rights organizations and members of the #KeepItOn coalition, urgently appeal for the re-establishment of telecommunications infrastructure across the entire country.

Sudan has become the world’s worst displacement crisis and is on the brink of becoming the world’s worst hunger crisis. In total, more than half of Sudan’s population – nearly 25 million people – need humanitarian aid. Over a year of relentless warfare and indiscriminate violence have destroyed homes, towns, livelihoods, and critical civilian infrastructure.

Indiscriminate attacks and disruption of telecommunications by warring parties have severely affected civilians’ ability to cope with the effects of the war, as well as aid workers’ capacity to deliver essential services, with local responders most severely impacted. Both sides have consistently used targeted attacks on telecommunication infrastructure or the imposition of bureaucratic restrictions (such as the banning of the importation and use of certain satellite-internet devices). severely impacting civilian populations.

When available, internet access has been instrumental in assisting civilians share and receive critical and often lifesaving information, including about safe areas and routes. Civilians also use the internet to access cash and bank transfers—often receiving support from relatives living overseas—which for many has become a lifeline, allowing them to purchase the most basic necessities, such as food and water. Local aid groups, who have been the first and main responders in most conflict-affected parts of the country, rely heavily on telecommunications to reach vulnerable communities and receive funding for their lifesaving activities. In areas where formal telecommunication is barely functioning, both civilians and local responders, such as Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs), often connect through informal Starlink internet cafes. Humanitarian organizations also rely on functional telecommunications to coordinate and deliver relief efforts safely, particularly to provide cash assistance into the most remote areas.

A nationwide telecommunication shutdown in February 2024 left almost 30 million Sudanese without access to the internet or telephone calls for more than a month. Across the country, those experiencing the horrors of war have been separated from and unable to contact their families and loved ones. While some levels of services were restored in the east of the country, large swathes of territory remain disconnected from the network providers, such as Zain, MTN and Sudani – namely the Darfur region, and parts of Khartoum and the Kordofans. The same areas are also the most exposed to conflict and risk of famine, making the consequences of telecommunications blackout even more life-threatening. In some areas cut-off from broader telecommunications, the only available service has been via satellite connectivity devices such as Starlink. While the cost of satellite services is prohibitive to most civilians and there are significant restrictions on the importation of satellite equipment, such services remain critical for both international humanitarian organizations and local responders to remain operational in Sudan. While there remain valid concerns around the use of this technology—and other telecommunications systems–by the parties to the conflict, the potential shutdown of Starlink (as announced in April 2024) would have a disproportionate impact on civilians and the aid organizations who are trying to reach them.

We call upon all stakeholders to ensure the uninterrupted provision of telecommunication services in Sudan. Any shutdown of telecommunication services is a violation of human rights and may be considered to be a collective punishment that will not only isolate individuals from their support networks but also exacerbate the already dire economic situation facing millions.
Telecommunications infrastructure must be considered as critical civilian infrastructure. As such, parties to the conflict must refrain from attacking, destroying, damaging, or otherwise rendering inoperable telecommunications infrastructure, facilitate the rehabilitation of damaged systems, and ensure telecommunication services are accessible to all, regardless of where they live. In addition, they should lift restrictions on all satellite-internet and actively facilitate the importation of satellite-internet devices.

All service providers able to ensure connectivity in Sudan must immediately ensure that access to the internet remains accessible without interruption or additional cost increases. This includes diversifying the means to access the internet, such as solutions based on satellite (including, though not limited to, Starlink) and WiMAX technology, or the use of e-SIMs near the country’s borders.
 Development donors and financial institutions should support the development of the telecommunication sector in the longer term, by promoting decentralized infrastructure and reducing barriers for smaller businesses to enter the telecommunications market.
The United Nations, through the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster, must urgently increase emergency telecommunication capacity in Darfur and the Kordofans, and provide access to the services to all humanitarian actors, including expanding its services to civilians until other options become available.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Norwegian Refugee Council.

UNICEF is urgently appealing for USD 84.9 million to fund its emergency response aimed at assisting children and women affected by the El Nino crisis in Zimbabwe. This funding will provide life-saving interventions to 1.34 million people, including 866,000 children, amidst a complex humanitarian crisis exacerbated by water and food shortages.

Zimbabwe is experiencing an El Nino emergency impacting severely children under five years, pregnant and lactating women, and adolescents. The challenges created by El Nino in Zimbabwe come at a time when the country is also faced with public health emergencies related to cholera and polio, putting Zimbabwe into a complex, multi-dimensional humanitarian crisis.

El Nino’s induced drought is creating numerous health issues affecting children, including disease outbreaks, infectious and respiratory illnesses, and increased levels of malnutrition. Water scarcity is expected to contribute to the spread of diarrheal and other water-scarce diseases among children exacerbated by reduced immunity in children because of malnutrition. The El Nino-induced drought is increasing household’s poverty and vulnerability and the risk of school dropouts and violence, and abuse and exploitation against children.

Dr Nicholas Alipui, UNICEF Representative ai in Zimbabwe said: “We are particularly concerned about the vulnerability of children in this current emergency. Decreased access to clean water and a poor diet heightens the risk of malnutrition and diarrheal diseases among children and impacts on their rights to education and protection with the full impact of these intersecting factors expected to manifest only later. Hence the need for a front-facing preventive strategy to avert excess deaths in the months to come.”

The UNICEF appeal is part of the UN-interagency appeal recently launched to support the Government’s response to the emergency caused by El Nino.

UNICEF’s appeal focusses primarily on ensuring – in collaboration with the Government of Zimbabwe and partners – continued access of children and their caregivers to integrated health, water, sanitation and hygiene, nutrition, education and child protection services.

We are urging the donor community to generously support UNICEF’s appeal, emphasizing the critical need to secure children’s rights to health, education, and protection during this crisis.

“The funding will help mitigate child morbidity and mortality, prevent malnutrition and provide treatment, enhance water access, ensure continuous learning for children, and protect children against abuse and exploitation. It will also help strengthen the resilience of household to deal with the crisis,” stressed Dr Alipui.

The effects of the current drought will continue to impact child nutrition into next year as household level food production and stocks will be severely depleted. 

Given the enduring impact of El Nino on Zimbabwe’s children and vulnerable demographics, continued support will be crucial in the coming months.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UNICEF Zimbabwe.

According to UN emergency relief chief Martin Griffiths, a “strike” damaged the roof of the intensive care unit at Southern Hospital in El Fasher Town – the only working hospital in North Darfur state – where medical supplies are running dangerously low.

Some 800,000 people live in and around El Fasher Town where “countless lives are at stake. Sudan is at a tipping point,” Mr. Griffiths said in a message on X late Sunday.

Key city at stake

In an update on the hostilities, the UN aid coordination office (OCHA) reported that dozens of civilians had been killed in renewed heavy fighting last Friday between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Force (RSF) soldiers in and around the city – the last one in North Darfur not yet under RSF control, it has been reported.

“The clashes, including airstrikes and the use of heavy weapons, started mid-morning in the eastern part of El Fasher Town and continued until 6.30pm,” said OCHA. “The clashes extended into the centre of the town, the outskirts of the main market and into neighbourhoods, resulting in civilian deaths and injuries.”

Before the latest bloodshed, humanitarians warned that months of escalating violence around El Fasher Town had been behind “persistent” aid access obstructions that had hampered the sustained flow of aid and basic commodities, “pushing people to the brink of famine”.

Nearly 25 million need help

In Darfur alone, some nine million people need humanitarian assistance today, but a staggering 24.8 million across Sudan – almost one in two people in the country – now require help from the UN and aid partners. 

The latest assessment of hunger levels across Sudan from late March were already alarming, even before this latest escalation.

It revealed that 17.7 million people – more than one-third of the country’s population – faced acute food insecurity (IPC3) or worse, with level three indicating “Crisis” and five indicating “Famine”.

Of these, 4.9 million people “are on the brink of famine”, experts at the globally respected Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative warned. “Nearly nine out of 10 people in IPC4 are in conflict-affected areas in Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum and Jazirah. With the onset of the lean season from April onwards, food insecurity is expected to further worsen,” their assessment noted.

Millions of lives upended

According to the UN migration agency, IOM, about 570,000 people have been displaced in North Darfur state in the last 13 months and 6.7 million have been internally displaced, while 1.8 million have fled across Sudan’s border, UN refugee agency (UNHCR) data shows.

Before reports of renewed clashes on Sunday in and around El Fasher Town, OCHA said that large numbers of people had moved from the east and northwest to the south.

Media reports cited the medical director of the El Fasher Town hospital describing that patients were being treated in any available space within the facility, including on balconies. Echoing concerns over damage to medical equipment and supplies, the director indicated that a key supply line to the rest of Sudan had been cut off by the RSF.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN News.

In an effort to protect communities from diseases resulting from environmental and health setting contamination, the Ministry of Health, supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners, has embarked on an ambitious mission. Supported by funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), EU Humanitarian Aid (ECHO), and Resolve to Save Lives, the initiative aims to upscale infection prevention and control (IPC) and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) measures in healthcare facilities to minimize the risk of infection transmission and water-borne related outbreaks.

Since 2020, South Sudan has been grappling with heavy rainfall and rising water levels along the White Nile, which have led to massive flooding in many parts of the country. This has had a profound impact on the healthcare system, affecting nearly one million people and subsequently resulting in widespread disruption to normal patterns of life in the affected locations.

In response, WHO has intensified its support to the Ministry of Health, focusing on implementing effective IPC/WASH measures. This comprehensive strategy encompasses water quality testing, hand hygiene promotion, healthcare waste management, and the implementation of IPC guidelines through multimodal strategy improvement and standard operating procedures. Additionally, attention is given to addressing healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance, recognizing their significance in the current context.   

Despite the challenging circumstances, WHO has successfully trained over 648 healthcare workers from 2023 to March 2024, showcasing the resilience and dedication of the healthcare system. These workers have been instrumental in bolstering the healthcare system’s resilience and deploying laboratory experts and public health officers nationwide to strengthen water quality surveillance and sanitary inspection efforts, including conducting onsite water quality tests.

As part of the intervention, a total of 967 water samples were collected and tested for physical, bacteriological, and essential chemical parameters, the test was conducted onsite and at the National Public Health Laboratory in Juba. Findings revealed that 581 samples tested positive with fecal Coliforms (E. coli), representing 60% of the contamination rate of water points across the country. In response, WHO has taken swift action, procuring and distributing over 1521 assorted IPC/WASH supplies, including color-coded waste bins, disinfectants, and water quality testing equipment, to several hotspot locations and counties.

Reflecting on the challenges ahead, Dr Humphrey Karamagi, the WHO Representative for South Sudan, said, “In our efforts to reduce infection and needless death due to infections, we place infection prevention at the Centre stage of all our health interventions.”

Dr Karamagi underscored WHO’s commitment to strengthening IPC programs, including water quality surveillance, and supporting the development and implementation of national IPC guidelines across all levels of healthcare facilities.

As part of strengthening the IPC Programme, WHO is implementing measures to ensure continuous technical support to the Ministry of Health by building the capacity of healthcare workers through refresher training, job mentorship, and giving strategic direction for attaining the minimum requirements for IPC Programs. WHO is also working closely with WASH and Health Cluster Partners to improve WASH in health facilities and promote the implementation of Multi Modal Improvement Strategies and integrate IPC into existing health structures. This will go a long way in improving patient outcomes and ensuring healthcare Worker protection. IPC must be institutionalized and taken as an everyday quality process in healthcare and not only as an outbreak response measure.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Health Organization (WHO) – South Sudan.