Hundreds feared dead in Sudan after paramilitary rampage, suicides reported in aftermath

The latest war crimes in Sudan have torn through an area south of Khartoum, where the Rapid Support Forces recently went on a multi-day killing and raping spree through nearly 60 defenseless towns and villages.

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18 months of war between the national army and a genocidal militia called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has all but destroyed Sudan. The country has been ground zero for the largest humanitarian and displacement crises in the world for months, an urgent reality not reflected in the international press. Khartoum already lies in ruins, as do countless other towns and villages. Multiple regions have descended into famine and there is still no end in sight.

Annual rains in Sudan reduced fighting the past few months due to flooding and washed out roads. The rainy season came to an end a few weeks ago, but a new surge in heavy combat broke out well before then as the army and RSF launched new offensives early. As has been the case throughout this war, an uptick in armed conflict is giving way to a surge in targeted war crimes.

Map: Location of Gezira area. (Operation Broken Silence)

On October 20, the RSF began blocking access to roughly 30 communities in northern and eastern Gezira province, just south of Khartoum. Main roads were sealed off and communication channels, including privately-owned Starlink terminals, were seized to try to trap residents and prevent them from getting word out.

Over the next four days, RSF fighters marched through towns and villages in northern and eastern Gezira. They fired live ammunition at civilians indiscriminately while executing others. The paramilitaries looted property and plundered markets. Then they began sexually assaulting women and girls.

Throughout the brazen assault the RSF expanded into more towns and villages. Nearly 60 have now been attacked. Over 119,000 people have fled Gezira in the past several days.

Right now, the heaviest blow seems to have fallen on El Sariha village, where more than 120 people are reported to have been murdered by the RSF. Roughly 200 residents have been wounded. Over 150 more are missing and presumably being detained and tortured by the RSF. High civilian casualties are being reported in the villages of Rufaa and Tamboul as well.

Getting information out has proven to be difficult due to the near complete communications black out. Survivors escaping the RSF blockade bring with them terrifying stories of executions, rape, and having to flee in the dead of night to avoid being hunted down by RSF fighters. Other eyewitnesses report seeing RSF soldiers beating civilians.

These stories align with the minimal footage and photos that have appeared on social media, including some posted by RSF fighters, who look to be proud of their atrocities. One video we reviewed showed a paramilitary dragging an elderly man by his beard and humiliating him as other soldiers watch and cheer. Others show bodies covered for burial, people fleeing their villages, and the RSF rounding up civilians at gunpoint as small arms fire is heard in the background.

Sexual assault seems to be a central feature of this RSF rampage. Fathers and brothers were killed for trying to prevent RSF soldiers from raping their female family members. Survivors have said the RSF is abducting women and girls, and reports are emerging that an unknown number of women in Gezira have committed suicide instead of waiting to be raped by the RSF.

Understanding these war crimes

The RSF has a well-documented history of rampaging against ordinary Sudanese after battlefield losses. The paramilitary force is built in a way that units are undisciplined on their own, but easy for commanders to take strong control of during major operations. Top RSF commanders often use this dynamic to deny knowledge of their war crimes, even when there is evidence commanders planned and executed a genocide.

With these facts in mind, the trigger for RSF war crimes in Gezira appears to be two-fold.

First, in September, the army launched a major offensive in and around Khartoum, reclaiming large swaths of Bahri (Khartoum North) and gaining a new foothold in Khartoum proper. We covered this in our last monthly newsletter. Army forces also seized control of the strategic Jebel Moya area in Gezira and areas in nearby Sinnar province a few weeks ago, driving out RSF fighters as they advance.

Second, Abu Keikel —a major RSF commander and the de facto ruler of Gezira— recently defected to the army. RSF fighters began attacking villages and towns in Gezira seen as “loyal” to Keikel shortly after. That’s RSF code for targeting just about anyone who is the same ethnicity as Keikel is. Many RSF fighters adhere to an extremely racist, Arab-supremacist ideology that says African tribal groups must be cleansed from Sudan and that all other Sudanese Arabs are inferior.

Gezira has been largely quiet for months despite the RSF occupation and, with RSF forces facing intensifying pressure from the army and losing a top commander, the paramilitaries are now taking their rage out on civilians along ethnic lines as part of their predictable pattern. RSF social media influencers (yes, that’s a thing) are even claiming that the villagers were plotting with the army to rise up against the RSF as the real pretext for these atrocities. While the army’s intelligence branch has smuggled weapons to a handful of villages in Gezira, there is no evidence that armed clashes broke out between the RSF and villagers before the rampage began

These crimes are yet another grim reminder that the Sudanese people will never be safe and prosperous as long as the RSF exists. Even if top commanders wanted to reform their paramilitary outfit, they are incapable of doing so and always will be. Sudan’s national army are no angels; indeed, that force is likely beyond reform as well. But the RSF always has been and always will be a terrorist organization, one that has reach beyond Sudan’s borders and can only survive by plundering the Sudanese state, private property, and the country’s natural resources. It is unhelpful and dangerous to understand the RSF as anything else besides the cancer it is.

Our Sudanese partners need your help

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 who are bring emergency aid, education and healthcare to their people. And they need us now more than ever.

Miles For Sudan is a new global event for runners, walkers, and cyclists who want to help Sudanese heroes save lives. All you have to do is sign up and then ask friends and family to give through your fundraising page after each workout. And the best part? You can participate from wherever you call home.

Not ready to participate in Miles For Sudan? Make a quick one-time donation or set up a small monthly gift instead. Here are a few ways your generosity can help:

$1,000 - Fully funds one classroom at Endure Primary School in Yida Refugee Camp for half a semester.

$500 - Delivers food to Darfuri genocide survivors who have fled to South Sudan.

$250 - Provides a daily breakfast to 10 children for an entire month in Adré refugee camp, where many Darfuri genocide survivors now live.

$100 - Supports the monthly work of a sexual assault counselor in Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur, Sudan.

$50 - Helps repair classrooms in Yida damaged by seasonal rains and provide for general maintenance.

Checks can be made payable to Operation Broken Silence and mailed to PO Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900. You can also donate stock or crypto.

Operation Broken Silence is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Your donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law.

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• The latest war crimes in Sudan have torn through an area south of Khartoum, where the Rapid Support Forces recently went on a multi-day killing spree through nearly 60 defenseless towns and villages. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/hundreds-feared-dead-in-sudan-after-paramilitary-rampage-suicides-reported-in-aftermath

• From October 20-25, RSF fighters marched through towns and villages in northern and eastern Gezira. They executed civilians, looted property and markets, and sexually assaulted women and girls. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/hundreds-feared-dead-in-sudan-after-paramilitary-rampage-suicides-reported-in-aftermath

• The heaviest blow seems to have fallen on El Sariha village, where more than 120 people are reported to have been murdered by the RSF. Roughly 200 residents have been wounded. Over 150 more are missing and presumably being detained and tortured by the RSF. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/hundreds-feared-dead-in-sudan-after-paramilitary-rampage-suicides-reported-in-aftermath

• Gezira has been largely quite for months despite the RSF occupation and, with RSF forces facing intensifying pressure from the army and losing a top commander, are now taking their rage out on civilians as part of their predictable pattern. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/hundreds-feared-dead-in-sudan-after-paramilitary-rampage-suicides-reported-in-aftermath

Introducing Miles For Sudan

Miles For Sudan is a new global event for runners, walkers, and cyclists helping Sudanese heroes save lives in the world's largest humanitarian emergency.

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With the war and famine in Sudan worsening by the day, our brave Sudanese partners are overwhelmed and in desperate need of more support. Miles For Sudan is our invitation to you to get into the game. It’s free to sign up. And your fundraising page automatically accepts 150+ currencies from around the world, meaning you can participate from wherever you call home.

Miles For Sudan FAQ | Sudan Crisis Guide | Our Partners | Fundraising Support

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Credits

FEATURING

• Runners: Emmanuel Amido, Scott Nivens, Will Moss, Corinne Thompson, Rajan Thakur, Brittney Tucker, Paul and Xitalli Sobero, Jonahius Kemboi, Sean Ferrell, Jonathan Fogo, and Jackie Broehl.

• "A Home-Sick Sparrow" by Sudanese poet Mahjoub Sahrif, who dedicated his life to seeing Sudan become free and just. Reading by Emmanuel Amido. We do not own the rights to this poem.

CREDITS

• Producer: Mark Hackett

• Director: Joshua Cannon

• Director of Photography: Jacob Geyer

• Assistant Director: Brody Kuhar

• G&E: Stuart Taylor & John Christman

• Art: Dustin Brantley, Will Knutson & Scott Nivens

• Sound: John Christman

• Still Photography: Nate Packard & Mark Hackett

• On-site Support: Jeffrey Cannon

• Music: Tim Mann, licensed via The MusicBed.

SPECIAL THANKS

• To the Amido family for being a central part of this story and inviting us into your beautiful home.

• Nashville Camera for serving us with our equipment needs.

• Farther Bag Co. for opening up your shop and making a Sudanese flag.

• Our Sudanese brothers and sisters, who will one day live in peace made possible by a whole and just Sudan.

Filmed on ARRI Alexa Mini and Cooke Anamorphic/i FF Prime Lenses.

Statement from President Joe Biden on Sudan

Photo: President Biden's official White House portrait. (White House)

In June, Operation Broken Silence joined over 150 organizations and experts in calling on the Biden Administration to take more decisive action in Sudan, specifically with regard to the genocide emergency unfolding in the city of El Fasher. The U.S. government has since stepped up diplomatic and humanitarian efforts, including the launch of a new global coalition to end the war and famine, which has pried open a handful of aid routes into parts of Sudan.

The White House today released the following statement from President Biden regarding Sudan:

For over 17 long months, the Sudanese people have endured a senseless war that has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Nearly 10 million people have been displaced by this conflict. Women and girls have been kidnapped and sexually assaulted. Famine has taken hold in Darfur, and is threatening millions more elsewhere. And today, a violent history is repeating itself. The city of El Fasher, Darfur—home to nearly two million people and hundreds of thousands of displaced persons—has been under a months-long siege by the Rapid Support Forces. That siege has become a full-on assault in recent days.

I call on the belligerents responsible for Sudanese suffering—the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)—to pull back their forces, facilitate unhindered humanitarian access, and re-engage in negotiations to end this war. The RSF must stop their assault that is disproportionately harming Sudanese civilians. The SAF must stop indiscriminate bombings that are destroying civilian lives and infrastructure.  While both sides have taken some steps to improve humanitarian access, the SAF and RSF continue to delay and disrupt lifesaving humanitarian operations. Both parties need to immediately allow unhindered humanitarian access to all areas of Sudan.

The United States stands with the Sudanese people. Since the start of the conflict, we have pressed for peace and sought to hold accountable actors seeking to perpetuate violence.  The United States has advanced efforts to rally international partners, end hostilities, protect civilians, expand humanitarian access, and elevate civil society voices—most recently through talks last month in Switzerland, where we launched the Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan Group with a collection of influential partners, the African Union, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the United Nations, and the United Arab Emirates. The ALPS Group has secured the opening of new routes into Darfur and Khartoum, through which desperately needed humanitarian assistance is now being delivered, and permission to access some airstrips to further increase aid delivery. But we must keep pressing for more.  

The United States is the world’s largest provider of assistance to the Sudanese people, funding over $1.6 billion in emergency assistance in the last two years. We have previously determined that members of the SAF and the RSF have committed war crimes, and that members of the RSF have committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned sixteen entities and individuals for contributing to the conflict, exacerbating instability, or serious human rights abuses. And we will continue to evaluate further atrocity allegations and potential additional sanctions.

Let it be clear: the United States will not abandon our commitment to the people of Sudan who deserve freedom, peace, and justice. We call for all parties to this conflict to end this violence and refrain from fueling it, for the future of Sudan and for all of the Sudanese people.

Our Sudanese Partners Need Your Help

While we welcome increasing U.S. engagement on Sudan, President Biden is correct that much more progress needs to be made. The war continues, as does the famine. It is critical that we do everything we can to support local heroes on the ground who are saving lives right now. Your gift will help them continue their lifesaving work in this time of extreme crisis.

$1,000 - Fully funds one classroom at Endure Primary School in Yida Refugee Camp for half a semester.

$500 - Delivers food to Darfuri genocide survivors who have fled to South Sudan.

$250 - Provides a daily breakfast to 10 children for an entire month in Adré refugee camp, where many Darfuri genocide survivors now live.

$100 - Supports the monthly work of a sexual assault counselor in Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur, Sudan.

$50 - Helps repair classrooms in Yida damaged by seasonal rains and provide for general maintenance.

Checks can be made payable to Operation Broken Silence and mailed to PO Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900.

Join Miles For Sudan | Donate Stock or Crypto

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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• Share Our Posts: Instagram | Threads | Facebook | LinkedIn | Reddit

• “Let it be clear: the United States will not abandon our commitment to the people of Sudan who deserve freedom, peace, and justice.” - President Joe Biden https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-sudan

• Sudan is home to the largest and most dangerous humanitarian emergency, far outpacing every other crisis in the world. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-sudan

• Operation Broken Silence is building a global movement to empower the Sudanese people through innovative programs. For over a decade, we've allied people just like you with incredible Sudanese heroes on the ground. Will you join us? https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-sudan

U.S. announces the Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan

American-led peace talks in Geneva wrapped up on Friday, August 23 without a ceasefire. U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello announces new Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan (ALPS) Group will work to save lives.

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The war that has torn through Sudan for 16 long months is still worsening the largest humanitarian emergency in the world.

Khartoum lies in ruins, as do countless other towns and villages that the army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have fought over, or that the RSF has simply massacred. Famine claims at least 100 lives on a “good day.” Bodies are piling up in makeshift cemeteries that are now so large they are being documented from space, while more satellite imagery documents trucks dumping the dead into the Nile River. No one knows the true death toll in Sudan, but some estimates put out months ago were already exceeding 150,000 lives lost. And that was well before famine was officially declared.

Private town hall with the State Department and USAID.

The likelihood of a ceasefire being secured in Geneva was already slim, a fact made worse by the army deciding to boycott the talks and the RSF delegation in Geneva failing to show up on the first day. But as we noted in mid-August, the Geneva platform was designed to shift into being a global summit, creating space for the international community to start breaking away from off-the-shelf diplomatic solutions that have had little to no impact.

This Plan B, so to speak, is now underway as the Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan (ALPS) Group, which includes the United States, Switzerland, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the African Union, and the United Nations.

On September 3, Operation Broken Silence joined a private town hall for Sudanese diaspora and NGOs hosted by Special Envoy Perriello and USAID Deputy Administrator Isobel Coleman. The American officials shared updates from the progress the United States and international partners made on humanitarian priorities in Switzerland and discussed next steps.

Special Envoy Perriello also gave a separate, public briefing to reporters and a review of ALPS priorities moving forward. The briefing provides a good overview of what was discussed in the private town hall we attended. You can listen and read a summary with a bit of our own analysis below.

ALPS Public Briefing

Listen to Readout Of The ALPS Group Talks On Sudan In Switzerland

U.S. State Department

See the full press briefing readout

“Given the scale of the suffering and the paralysis diplomatically, President Biden and Secretary Blinken asked me to lead an initiative of diplomatic partners…to meet in Switzerland to see whether we could produce some breakthroughs on key elements across three areas: humanitarian access, protection to civilians, and cessation to hostilities.  We were able over a couple of weeks working intensively around the clock…to be able to produce some very significant breakthroughs.” - Special Envoy Perriello

On the humanitarian aid front, ALPS secured agreements to open the major Adré border crossing in western Sudan and to get pledges of aid access across the Dabbah Road coming east from Port Sudan. Both are now active with dozens of aid trucks already entering. This is still a drop in the bucket, something Perriello acknowledged in saying there is still much work to be done. Seasonal rains are also ongoing in Sudan, closing down many roads and making it even more difficult to get aid into some areas.

ALPS is negotiating for more aid expansions and success is being measured on food and medicine actually reaching Sudanese in starvation conditions. Perriello also noted that the United States is the largest humanitarian donor by far, contributing over a billion dollars since the beginning of the war to support humanitarian emergency needs inside Sudan as well as in neighboring countries who’ve opened borders to the Sudanese.

With regard to protecting civilians, ALPS has gotten a commitment to a public code of conduct by the RSF that will go out to combatants fighting under their auspices. The RSF has both intentionally engaged in genocide and war crimes and also has severe command-and-control issues, so it’s doubtful the paramilitary group will see improved behavior on any noticeable scale. ALPS did work with a group of Sudanese women on a number of aspects related to atrocities so as to try to ensure any progress reflected the horrors on the ground. ALPS has asked the army to submit and disseminate its own public code of conduct.

On the main priority to end the war, ALPS is seeing a lack of political will from the army and RSF to halt the fighting. ALPS is reiterating to the army and RSF that international humanitarian law and protection of civilians must be respected and is seeking new opportunities to get both sides to the negotiating table. ALPS believes that ending the war and protecting a unified and sovereign Sudan are essential, and that those pushing for alternative approaches —including partition— should not have a say in future discussions about Sudan. 

Perriello noted that the unusual approach of a combination of in-person and virtual negotiations with the army and RSF —as well as technical and international partners— is what allowed for this limited progress to be made. “We hope in the coming weeks that we can continue to build on those successes, and including the issues of addressing famine but also expanding the protection for civilians and hopefully building common ground for a cessation of hostilities.”

Our Sudanese Partners Need Your Help

While these new efforts by the international community are welcome, Special Envoy Perriello notes they are still not enough to stem the suffering from war and spreading famine. As ALPS works to try to improve conditions in Sudan in the coming weeks and months, it is critical that we do everything we can to support local heroes on the ground who are saving lives right now. Your gift will help them continue their lifesaving work in this time of extreme crisis.

$1,000 - Fully funds one classroom at Endure Primary School in Yida Refugee Camp for half a semester.

$500 - Delivers food to Darfuri genocide survivors who have fled to South Sudan.

$250 - Provides a daily breakfast to 10 children for an entire month in Adré refugee camp, where many Darfuri genocide survivors now live.

$100 - Supports the monthly work of a sexual assault counselor in Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur, Sudan.

$50 - Helps repair classrooms in Yida damaged by seasonal rains and provide for general maintenance.

Checks can be made payable to Operation Broken Silence and mailed to PO Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900.

Join Miles For Sudan | Donate Stock or Crypto

Operation Broken Silence is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law.

Shareables

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• Share Our Posts: Instagram | Threads | Facebook | LinkedIn | Reddit

• The war that has torn through Sudan for 16 long months is still worsening the largest humanitarian emergency in the world. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/us-announces-the-aligned-for-advancing-lifesaving-and-peace-in-sudan-group

• The Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan (ALPS) Group, which includes the United States, Switzerland, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the African Union, and the United Nations. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/us-announces-the-aligned-for-advancing-lifesaving-and-peace-in-sudan-group

• ALPS has secured agreements to open the major Adré border crossing in western Sudan, to get pledges of access across the Dabbah Road coming east from Port Sudan, and to get agreements from the army and RSF to guarantee access along both routes. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/us-announces-the-aligned-for-advancing-lifesaving-and-peace-in-sudan-group

• As the Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan Group works to try to improve conditions in Sudan in the coming weeks and months, it is critical that we do everything we can to support local heroes on the ground who are saving lives right now. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/us-announces-the-aligned-for-advancing-lifesaving-and-peace-in-sudan-group

Nuba Education Update - June 2024

Program Background

In 2015, Operation Broken Silence began funding four Sudanese teachers in Yida Refugee Camp. They were giving lessons underneath a tree with half of a broken chalkboard and no support.

We sprung into action and helped them scale their effort into the Endure Primary and Renewal Secondary Schools. 24 Nuba teachers overseen by a headmaster come to work here every day, where they instruct over 700 students in their classrooms. Endure Primary is the top-performing elementary school in the region and Renewal Secondary is the only fully-functioning high school in Yida. More than 11,000 children have been served at the schools to date.

Beyond these schools, we also provide teaching support to Yida’s only other secondary school, supply a limited amount of supplies to eight additional primary schools in the camp, and oversee a national exam prep program for most of Yida’s primary students.

Today, Operation Broken Silence remains the only nonprofit in the world supporting childhood education in Yida Refugee Camp. The teachers and students work hard every day, and they rely on supporters like you to continue doing so.

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Hannah’s Story

Hannah’s family came to Yida as refugees several years ago. She was born in the Nuba Mountains but was too young to remember her village when they left.

“My mother brought us to Yida because there was no water or food in the village. She remembers seeing the Antonov (regime warplane) fly above but it never hurt us the way it did others.”

Humanitarian conditions in Yida were better than in the Nuba Mountains when they arrived. Hannah’s mother had heard there was ample clean water access in Yida and multiple schools for her children to attend, but even she was surprised by just how much safer and easier it was to thrive in Yida.

Like so many families here, Hannah’s hopes to return to their village in the Nuba Mountains when there is peace one day. For now she is enrolled in our education program, which is funded entirely by people just like you. For Hannah, she knows the best thing she can do right now is come to school.

“I don’t think people in the world know how bad it is for students in Sudan. A girl who came to Yida early this year joined our class. She says most schools in Sudan are closed because of war. I try to imagine all the empty classrooms. It is hard. All the children of our generation need the opportunity we have here. We come to school everyday for them and not just ourselves.

We are thankful for bringing us school supplies and helping our teachers. My people feel alone right now but at school we can see that we heard and believed in by people all over the world. Thank you for supporting our schools.”

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Recent Updates

Endure Primary & Renewal Secondary. Life at the schools goes on despite Sudan’s severe hardships. Student attendance continues to fluctuate at Endure Primary as some families return to Nuba and others arrive in Yida, which is more or less the trend since 2021. Over the past two months attendance at Endure has hovered around roughly 500 students. Daily attendance at Renewal Secondary has been a bit more stable due to the lack of secondary schools in the Nuba region, with 210 students sitting for classes on most days. This is on the lower of end of enrollment compared to previous years; however, as we’ll get to in a moment, we expect attendance to start ticking up again soon.

Teachers at both schools will begin preparing Primary 8 and Secondary 4 students for national exams in August. Endure Primary and Renewal Secondary have been the top-performing schools in the region when it comes to testing the past several years. Last year, we saw a record 43 of the 45 students who took the Grade 8 national exam pass.

Basic repairs are currently underway at a few classrooms at both schools. Seasonal rains just arrived and, as usual, exposed some maintenance needs. New weatherproofing tarps and roofing are being replaced and a few walls rebuilt. Most of the materials needed were pulled from storage and those stocks are beginning to run low. By the end of the rainy season in a few months we’ll likely need to replenish several building and repair items.

Supplementary Education Support. Endure Primary School continues serving as the central national exam preparation facility for primary students in Yida. The camp’s eight other primary schools receive support and resources annually from our teachers for student test prep. This supplementary program is expected to positively impact 1,600 students this year!

Vision Secondary, the only other high school in Yida, remains afloat with help from our teachers. The school was founded several years ago with pledges of support from outside nonprofits and churches, not a single one of which materialized. The teachers at Vision are all untrained, so a handful of our teachers at Renewal Secondary have stepped in to help teach science and provide general guidance.

Our Nuba education partner has made three deliveries this year of limited supplies to Yida’s eight additional primary schools, most of which operate with no outside support. There continues not to be enough basic items like chalk, paper, pencils and notebooks. While deliveries like these don’t meet all the material needs we are seeing, they are critical to sustaining Yida’s fragile education system.

Classroom Repairs

Classroom Repairs

Students at Renewal Secondary

Beginning of School Day

How war is impacting life at the schools

The devastating civil war that began in Sudan last year rages on today. Yida remains an oasis of calm, but the extreme violence and catastrophic humanitarian conditions in Sudan have cast a dark shadow here and brought new financial burdens for the schools.

Map: Location of Nuba Mountains. (Operation Broken Silence)

Local officials estimate that over 900,000 Sudanese have fled into the Nuba Mountains as war and famine have spread across Sudan. This is placing significant strains on the region and made prices of basic goods soar in Yida. Sporadic fighting on the western and northern frontlines in Nuba remains ongoing. The teachers and families at our schools are war-weary and frustrated that the world is ignoring the crimes being committed against their country.

If violence does erupt on a larger scale or humanitarian conditions worsen in Nuba —the latter of which especially seems likely— larger refugee flows into Yida will begin. This means more children will need to rely on our schools and the supplementary assistance we provide.

Like nearly every other need in Sudan right now, funding remains the largest obstacle for education in Yida. Rapidly rising costs from the war and a grueling international fundraising environment means our schools have only 55% of the funding needed to provide a holistic experience to students.

Internationally-minded donors are still struggling to comprehend the massive needs in Sudan as major media outlets cover Gaza 24/7 —and to a lesser degree Ukraine— despite Sudan being the largest and most severe emergency in the world. Our awareness efforts are slowly bringing more attention and funding to bear; however, this is still very much an uphill battle and not nearly enough to keep up with rising costs and needs. The teachers and students in Yida are facing a $65,000 shortfall in needed funding this year.

Despite the severe hardships in Sudan and these financial challenges though, the work being done by brave teachers and students at the schools continues on. We are pushing ahead with our fundraising as well despite the enormous barriers we face. Needs are rising and most everything is more expensive than it was a year ago; but, with your help, the lives of children —Sudan’s future hope— can still be changed for the better. We invite you to join us in supporting these amazing people to that end.

The Endure Primary and Renewal Secondary Schools are a small bulwark against the massive education crisis brought on by the war in Sudan. With so many schools across the country closed, every open classroom is more critical than ever. As humanitarian conditions in the Nuba Mountains get increasingly unstable, there is a rising chance we will see larger numbers of children returning to Yida in the near future. Right now, we don’t have the resources to mount an adequate response.

Your generosity can make the difference now and help the teachers prepare for what lies ahead. Giving options highlighted in bold are the best way to make the largest impact.

$2,200: Fund an entire classroom at Endure Primary for one semester.

$1,000: Support one teacher for an entire semester.

$750: Deliver three new chalkboards to classrooms.

$500: Provide additional materials and extra pay to teachers who are working with students to prepare them for national exams.

$250: Give pencils, notebooks and other supplies to 40 students in Yida Refugee Camp.

$100: Helps repair classrooms damaged by seasonal rains and provide for general maintenance.

$50: Give soccer balls and other sporting equipment to students.

Join Miles For Sudan | Donate Stock or Crypto

Checks can be made payable to Operation Broken Silence with Education written in the memo line and mailed to PO Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900.

Operation Broken Silence is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Your donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law.

Shareables

Short statements you can share online and with others. Simply copy and paste.

• Share Our Posts: Instagram | Threads | Facebook | LinkedIn | Reddit

• “I don’t think people in the world know how bad it is for students in Sudan...most schools are closed because of war. All the children of our generation need the opportunity we have. We come to school everyday for them and not just ourselves.” - Hannah https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/nuba-education-update-june-2024

• Operation Broken Silence remains the only nonprofit in the world supporting childhood education in Yida Refugee Camp, right outside of Sudan. They rely on supporters like you to continue doing so. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/nuba-education-update-june-2024

• Like every other need in Sudan, funding remains the largest obstacle for education. Rising costs from the war and a grueling fundraising environment means our schools have only 55% of the funding needed to provide a holistic experience to students. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/nuba-education-update-june-2024

• Sudan is home to the largest and most dangerous humanitarian emergency, far outpacing every other crisis in the world. Food and healthcare are dwindling, and children are some of the most impacted. Here’s one way to help: https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/nuba-education-update-june-2024

Letter to President Biden concerning the crisis in El Fasher

Operation Broken Silence is joining over 150 organizations and experts in calling on the Biden Administration to take more decisive action in Sudan, specifically with regard to the rapidly deteriorating genocide emergency unfolding in the city of El Fasher.

What does this mean and why does it matter?

Fourteen long months of war and extreme violence between regime factions in Sudan has given way to the largest and most dangerous humanitarian emergency in the world. Almost 18 million Sudanese —a third of the country— are facing life-threatening levels of food insecurity. Nearly 11 million people have been forced to flee their homes or have left Sudan altogether.

Modestly optimistic estimations based on available data suggest 2.5 million Sudanese will perish by September 2024, if conditions do not improve in the coming weeks. Famine is now breaking out in the hardest hit areas of the country, particularly in Darfur and Kordofan. Large-scale hunger is already leading to growing death rates. And still, the world has barely noticed.

The threat to human life in Sudan has risen even more rapidly over the past several weeks. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have surrounded the El Fasher area in North Darfur, which is home to an estimated two million people. National army and anti-RSF militias are holding out in the city so far, but at an appalling price to terrified civilians who are being shelled and are running out of food. The trajectory El Fasher is on is toward large-scale loss of human life, one that could exponentially eclipse the slaughter in El Geneina last year that saw up to 15,000 of the ethnically African Masalit people exterminated by the RSF.

While the Biden Administration has taken some action —including appointing a committed Special Envoy, making an atrocity determination, and helping to pre-position aid supplies in countries around Sudan— the President himself has neither spoken out on the world’s largest humanitarian emergency, nor has his administration pursued more aggressive action to shut down the flow of weapons into Sudan and deliver aid through untraditional channels.

The United States must play its traditional role of international mobilizer when it comes to saving lives in Sudan. Historically that has always included verbal and tangible support from the President of the United States. Now is the time for President Biden to speak out and for his administration to take a more heavy-handed approach with Sudan’s warring generals and their international backers.

Photo: On June 6, every Washington Post newspaper delivered to the White House included a wrap ad featuring the letter and signatures. We know this action was seen widely at the White House and spurred additional conversations. (Humanity United)

The clock is ticking. The complete impunity enjoyed by army and Rapid Support Forces generals is the primary driver of ghastly crimes and spiraling humanitarian conditions, but the United States can play a vital role in reducing the scale of suffering and bringing this senseless war to an end.

While we await a response, we ask that you join us in taking direct action below.

How You Can Help

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.

Team Zamzam in Darfur, Sudan - 20 female counselors serving victims of sexual violence and malnutrition in Zamzam displacement camp near El Fasher. They are distributing food to the disabled, the elderly, orphans, widows who have taken in children, and those with severe acute malnutrition. This is the area of Sudan most in need right now.

Refugee Leaders in Adré, eastern Chad - Experienced local healthcare and aid workers are running a small feeding program and two clinics to provide food and care to the most vulnerable, specifically the disabled and orphans. This is where many survivors of the Darfur genocide have fled. Rations have been cut in the camp due to a lack of funding.

Education Office in Juba, South Sudan - Our Nuba education partner has an office in Juba, where thousands of refugees from Darfur have arrived traumatized and hungry. Few have been able to secure refugee food benefits due to severe lack of international funding. Our partner is trying to provide basic food but has only 20% of the funding they need to do it.

Other Ways To Support These Heroes

Checks can be made payable to Operation Broken Silence and mailed to PO Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900.

Join Miles For Sudan, the new global event helping runners, walkers, and cyclists convert their miles into dollars raised. 

Purchase our Sudan Forever t-shirt to help raise awareness about this ignored crisis and deliver food relief.

Donate stock or crypto from your investment portfolio, which can come with unique tax benefits.

Operation Broken Silence is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Your donation is tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law.

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• Over 150 organizations and experts are calling on the Biden Administration to take more decisive action in Sudan, specifically with regard to the rapidly deteriorating genocide emergency unfolding in the city of El Fasher. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/letter-to-president-biden-concerning-the-crisis-in-el-fasher

• Fourteen long months of war and extreme violence between regime factions in Sudan has given way to the largest and most dangerous humanitarian emergency in the world. It’s time for world leaders to act. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/letter-to-president-biden-concerning-the-crisis-in-el-fasher

• The Rapid Support Forces have surrounded El Fasher in North Darfur, which is home to an estimated two million people. The trajectory is toward large-scale loss of human life, one that could exponentially eclipse the slaughter in El Geneina last year. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/letter-to-president-biden-concerning-the-crisis-in-el-fasher

• The complete impunity enjoyed by army and Rapid Support Forces generals is the primary driver of ghastly crimes and spiraling humanitarian conditions, but the United States can play a vital role in reducing the scale of suffering and bringing this senseless war to an end. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/letter-to-president-biden-concerning-the-crisis-in-el-fasher