Our Next Century Foundation Research Officer, Felix Mohaupt, delivers an oral intervention to the United Nations Human Rights Council 58th session. He addresses the United Nations requesting international community to support and funds for Sudan’s most effective relief group – the Emergency Response Rooms.

Transcript of Statement on Sudan

Dear President,

The civil war in Sudan has continued to rage on. Famine and mass violence are increasingly common, whether in Darfur, Khartoum, or Gezira, among other places. Over seven million people have been displaced from their homes. At least 2 million more have been forced out of Sudan altogether. The international community’s failure to adequately help the people of Sudan has left much of the burden on homegrown organisations.

The Next Century Foundation calls on the international community to directly support and fund one of Sudan’s most effective groups: the Emergency Response Rooms. These youth and women led networks work day and night to rescue people from destroyed buildings, to feed people with no regular access to food, and even to offer counselling to those who need it. Unfortunately, funding shortages and lack of resources means that vital services, such as soup kitchens, often cannot function. In light of this, and the recent pause on USAID funding, we call on the international community to increase the amount of funding for the ERRs. The current funding goals of the OCHA are too small, especially as the humanitarian crisis only worsens.

It is crucial that support for aid organisations in Sudan grows. Now is the time, more than ever, to commit to this funding.

Thank you