Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Karthoum (Agenzia Fides) - The food crisis that causes deaths from hunger (see Fides 10/10/2022) in large areas of the tormented country is aggravated by continuous episodes of violence, especially in Wad El Mahi in the region of the Blue Nile and at Lagawa in West Kordofan. According to reports, six people were killed, dozens were injured and an entire village was razed to the ground in renewed tribal clashes in En Nehoud, West Kordofan, between November 19 and 20.
The warring parties signed a reconciliation agreement on September 21. However, in Wad El Mahi, intercommunal violence resumed on 13 October.
"As fighting continues, at least 1,200 people have been displaced, 170 unconfirmed people have been killed and 327 injured", the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in an update.
Amid the protests, a group of women, along with other human rights groups, staged a sit-in outside the buildings of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNCHR) in Khartoum. Among the participating organizations, the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA), the "No to Oppression of Women" Initiative and the Union of Women of the Nouba Mountains presented a memorandum to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, condemning the inability of the authorities to contain the conflict and protect the populations of the two regions.
Protesters also called on the United Nations to pressure the military junta to hand over power to civilians and called on security forces to play their part in protecting people across Sudan. According to local sources, Awatif Abdelrahman, chairperson of the displaced women of Darfur, stressed the need to reach a comprehensive political agreement that does not exclude any political party, rebel movement, displaced persons or refugees.
Recently, the Minister of Health of the Blue Nile Region, Jamal Nasir, warned of an impending health disaster due to the lack of adequate sanitation facilities in school buildings used as shelters by displaced people.
Sudan has been without a government since October 2021, when the army removed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's transitional government and declared a state of emergency, a decision denounced by political forces as a 'military coup'. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 29/11/2022)
