Guterres: The world must help the Sudanese as the Sudanese helped their neighbours
Moatinoon
The time has come for the international community to show the Sudanese people in their ordeal the same level of support that the Sudanese have shown their neighbours in the past, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. He added: “We must do more – and do more now – to help the people of Sudan emerge from this nightmare.”
This came at the High-Level Humanitarian Conference for the People of Sudan today, held in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa - the headquarters of the African Union. Guterres praised the generosity of the Sudanese people in supporting internally displaced persons as well as refugees from the region, including those from Eritrea, Chad, South Sudan and even Ethiopia at certain moments. He told the attendees that their pledges today “will be an expression of that support.”
The Secretary-General indicated that the United Nations system will launch its two plans for Sudan - for humanitarian response and for refugees - for the year 2025, which require 6 billion to support some 26 million people inside and outside Sudan’s borders. “These two UN-coordinated appeals go far beyond any we have launched for Sudan and the region, and represent the unprecedented dimensions of the needs we face,” he said.
Guterres said Sudan was in the grip of a crisis of “staggering scale and brutality,” which was increasingly spreading to the wider region, and required sustained and urgent attention from the African Union and the wider international community.
He stressed the need to protect civilians, including humanitarian workers, as well as to facilitate rapid, safe, unhindered and sustained humanitarian access to all areas in need. He added that external support and the flow of weapons must stop, as this “enables the continuation of massive civilian destruction and bloodshed.”
The Secretary-General said the Sudanese people wanted an immediate ceasefire and the protection of civilians, adding that his Personal Envoy, Ramtane Lamamra, was engaging with the warring parties on concrete ways to advance these goals, including through the full implementation of the Jeddah Declaration.
“The holy month of Ramadan is upon us. At this blessed time of peace, compassion, giving and solidarity, I urge you all to use your enormous influence for good. Generously support the humanitarian response and press for respect for international law, a cessation of hostilities, life-saving aid and the lasting peace that the people of Sudan so desperately need,” he said.
