Counting 500 days of war in Sudan
As Sudan reaches another grim milestone, news outlets fail to keep a spotlight on the war and famine. World leaders fail to fund aid efforts at scale. The Sudanese people are paying an unimaginable price.
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Like countless Sudanese who have crossed an international border over the past 16 months, Aliyah expected to find shelter and food when she reached South Sudan in July. “Everyone knows the army and Rapid Support make it hard to bring help,” she says, referring to the two main combatants in Sudan’s brutal civil war. “I thought if I came here there would be food.”
Instead, Aliyah found refugees hungry and living in makeshift shelters. When she asked why, the answer provided was that aid agencies still don’t have enough money and resources. “I learned most people in the world know nothing of our suffering,” Aliyah says in frustration. “There are no reporters here. How can this be?”
500 days into the largest emergency in the world, Sudan still receives only a fraction of the attention given to Gaza and Ukraine despite a surging death toll that may have already surpassed both conflicts combined.
Extreme warfare between Sudan’s brutal national army and a genocidal militia known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has left the capital city of Khartoum in ruins. Countless other towns and villages have been razed to the ground. Famine stalks entire provinces, claiming at least 100 lives every day, likely many more. Bodies continue piling up in makeshift cemeteries that are now so large they are being documented from space. No one knows the true death toll in Sudan, but some estimates put out earlier this year were already exceeding 150,000 lives lost. And that was before famine was declared.
What makes this living nightmare even more shocking is what Aliyah and innumerable other Sudanese discover when they cross the border: most of the world seems not to care.
American news agencies especially struggle to provide consistent coverage on Sudan. Even international coverage is increasingly viewed through the prism of the fast-approaching presidential election. The social media zeitgeist continues driving journalists to doggedly pursue the smallest details of other international crises while not even mentioning the catastrophe in Sudan.
This failure of journalism continues to entrench a “doom loop of silence” around Sudan. Because this crisis is not consistently in the news, people around the world have no understanding of the extreme loss of human life underway and cannot advocate to their governments to help. This in turn has led to aid being severely underfunded for Aliyah and millions of more Sudanese.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports only 41% of the $2.7 billion the international body needs for Sudan this year has been given. It is now well over halfway through 2024. The United States government is the largest donor to Sudan relief efforts, making up 49% of all aid given. Other countries and humanitarian funds have given far, far less.
To provide some perspective on how underfunded aid is, Operation Broken Silence has sent over $210,000 directly to Sudanese heroes on the ground this year. According to OCHA’s data, out of the 67 national governments, international institutions, and major funds that have given to the UN’s Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan, we have given more than 22 of them by comparison. We are a small nonprofit. Most countries and funds still have not given a single penny at all.
The result of this historic international failure is being felt acutely by people just like Aliyah. Sudan’s warring generals are ultimately responsible for this catastrophe, but the failures of western journalists to keep a spotlight on Sudan and world leaders to mount a robust response are as shocking as they are heartbreaking.
We are not the only small entity that is struggling to fill the global leadership void. Sudanese diaspora networks, other small nonprofits, and groups of concerned citizens are raising awareness and funds for local leaders in Sudan who are saving lives. But none of us can unlock tens of millions of aid dollars with the stroke of a pen. None of us can issue arrest warrants for known war criminals or enforce an arms embargo. None of us can sit at a news desk night after night and bring Sudanese stories to millions of people, encouraging them to make informed decisions about helping. None of us can do the job of journalists and world leaders.
But this doesn’t mean we are powerless. A descent into total darkness has been held at bay for months by brave and exhausted Sudanese assisting their neighbors in fleeing to safer areas and feeding the hungry. Much of this lifesaving work is funded by Sudanese diaspora and ordinary people from around the world. After 500 days of war in Sudan, this is still the last line of defense. You can help make sure it holds. People just like Aliyah are counting on us.
Take Action
Operation Broken Silence is building a global movement to empower the Sudanese people through innovative programs as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For over a decade, we've allied people just like you with incredible Sudanese heroes on the ground. Your gift will help them continue their lifesaving work in this time of extreme crisis.
$2,200 - Fully funds one classroom at Endure Primary School in Yida Refugee Camp for one semester.
$1,000 - Supports the monthly work of 5 midwives in the Nuba Mountains.
$500 - Helps purchase emergency food and medicines in Zamzam Displacement Camp, North Darfur, which is currently under siege by the RSF.
$250 - Supplies food to Darfuri genocide survivors who have fled to South Sudan.
$100 - Provides a daily meal to 6 children for a month in Adré, eastern Chad, where many Darfuri genocide survivors live.
$50 - Delivers a day’s worth of basic medicine to three clinics in the Nuba Mountains, Sudan.
Checks can be made payable to Operation Broken Silence and mailed to PO Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900.
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Operation Broken Silence is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law.
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As Sudan reaches another grim milestone, news outlets still fail to keep a spotlight on the war and famine. World leaders still fail to fund aid efforts at scale. The Sudanese people are still paying an unimaginable price. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/counting-500-days-of-war-in-sudan
500 days into the largest emergency in the world, Sudan still receives only a fraction of the attention given to Gaza and Ukraine despite a surging death toll that may have already surpassed both conflicts combined. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/counting-500-days-of-war-in-sudan
“I learned most people in the world know nothing of our suffering,” Aliyah recalls. “There are no reporters here. How can this be?” https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/counting-500-days-of-war-in-sudan
Sudan’s warring generals are ultimately responsible for this catastrophe, but the failures of western journalists to keep a spotlight on Sudan and world leaders to mount a robust response are as shocking as they are heartbreaking. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/counting-500-days-of-war-in-sudan
