The world needs to wake up to the catastrophe unfolding in Sudan
Cities bombed out and villages annihilated. Men, women and children tortured, raped and executed. Millions displaced from their homes. A nation at risk of being swallowed whole by heavily-armed soldiers.
By any objective standard, Sudan’s roughly 49 million citizens are facing a catastrophe that is as epic as it is tragic. The capitol city of Khartoum has been a brutal war zone for over five months. In western Darfur, a full blown genocide of ethnic minorities is underway by a paramilitary force that is evil incarnate. War has resumed in the Nuba Mountains. Fighting is creeping into new parts of the country every week.
And the world seems to have barely noticed.
25 million people, roughly half the population, are in need of humanitarian assistance. Famine already stalks the war-torn hinterlands, threatening 6.3 million lives in just the next few months. 4.2 million women and girls —a brave demographic who has long been the last line of defense in protecting human life— are staring down the barrel of gender-based violence. Almost 700,000 children with severe acute malnutrition are at risk of dying by the end of this year. These statistics are certainly undercounts and tick upward with each passing day.
The United Nations has only 27% of the funding needed to stave off the worst of spiraling humanitarian conditions, and that’s assuming aid can reach those most in need. Right now, it isn’t. As a nonprofit organization working in Sudan for more than 12 years, we usually receive a few dozen new requests for help during a given year. 2023 is far from over and we have already received over 300 cries for emergency support.
Will you join our campaign to help?
Our Sudanese partners are struggling, which you can learn more about below. They need 100 of us to start giving monthly to help them continue their lifesaving work.
⚡️ Your first three monthly gifts will be matched by a private donor ⚡️
Operation Broken Silence is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Your donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law.
Can’t give monthly? Donate once or start a fundraising page and ask friends and family to give!
Does the world dithering on Sudan mean we must do the same?
There are many things world powers are not doing to save lives. We’ve covered this before (here, here and here) and will continue advocating for aggressive global action. But that is outside our control. Direct action is the most helpful approach.
There are three primary areas our Sudanese partners are working in to save and change lives for the better:
South Darfur - Escape support and relief
Nuba Mountains - General healthcare
Yida Refugee Camp (south of Nuba) - Childhood education
These efforts are as highly effective as they are massively underfunded. To provide just one example, our South Darfur partner needs an additional $65,000 through the end of the year to help people escape the Rapid Support Forces-backed genocide in Darfur and provide food and clothing to those most in need.
Photo: Tariq escaped the genocide in Darfur with the help of our Sudanese partner. Read his story.
Matched monthly giving plays a critical role in closing life-or-death gaps like these. It doesn’t take a lot of supporters to get the job done either; in fact, roughly 100 new monthly givers can meet the bulk of this need. But only if you join us instead of assuming others will meet these needs.
Your monthly giving means several hundred families and brave people such as Tariq will be saved from almost certain death. He says “My friends are grateful to those who helped us get out. We would be dead without them. Please tell people everywhere to give so we can help more people. We can still save many lives but it takes money to do it.”
Tariq is right. Vehicles need fuel and maintenance. Food and clothing has to be purchased. Critical supplies like these don’t just materialize on their own. Looking ahead though, scattered among these families are children and young people who will one day become community leaders, teachers and serve in many other roles that will help rebuild Sudan in a better direction, from the ground up.
In times like these it is easy to feel hopeless. But hopelessness is a choice. Hopelessness is choosing to glance at the big picture and cast judgement instead of seeing the faces of people who can change things. We have hope because we see countless faces like Tariq. We talk to these people. We know their hopes, dreams and challenges. As long as they remain committed to their country, there will be hope.
