Sir, –Time is running out for the people of Sudan. For many, it has already run out, with famine confirmed in West Darfur and another 15 areas at risk of famine. After 500 days of conflict, over750,000 people are facing starvation, and more than 25 million people need humanitarian assistance; 10.3 million have fled their homes to escape the fighting or in search of food. The global response to the world’s largest humanitarian crisis has been staggeringly insufficient to date. Just 41 per cent of the humanitarian funding required has been provided.
The crisis gets scant media attention, with a resultant lack of public awareness of the sheer scale of suffering.
In Sudan, Concern Worldwide is providing immediate needs – food, clean water, medicine and nutrition for new mothers and young children, as well as toilets, cash support, plastic sheeting, mosquito nets and soap. Concern is providing similar support along the borders of neighbouring Chad and South Sudan, where over one million people have crossed since the conflict erupted.
The horrific stories of hunger, gender-based violence, bombing and looting that we encounter are truly heartrending. These horrors apply not to thousands or tens of thousands but millions of people. The scale is truly shocking.
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The Irish Government must ensure that this major crisis is addressed at EU and UN level. The international community must apply pressure to end the conflict and ensure borders and supply lines remain open to allow humanitarian aid enter Sudan and reach people in desperate need. Both public and government must also increase funding, especially to organisations that are on the ground and currently responding.
With so many lives currently in the balance, the time for indecision and inaction by the international community is over. – Yours, etc,
DAVID REGAN,
Chief Executive,
Concern Worldwide,
Dublin 2.