Original image, Joyce Liu / BBC
- Writer, Lyse Doucet
- Name the person who wrote the story, BBC News, Kassala
Mahmoud is a boy who always smiles even though he lost his teeth at the playground.
He is an orphan in Sudan, twice separated from his family in the brutal war in his country – he is one of the estimated five million children who have lost almost everything as war moves them from place to place in the region now. facing the worst life in the world.
Right now, there is no country in the world where children are fleeing, many people are facing severe hunger than Sudan.
Famine has already been declared in a part of the country, many people are on the verge of starvation, because of the uncertainty of where they will get food.
The new head of the United Nations humanitarian agency, Tom Fletcher, said it was a war with “unprecedented consequences”.
“25 million Sudanese – more than half of the country’s population – need support right now,” he said.
At a time when the world is suffering from terrible wars, where the war in Gaza and Ukraine have attracted the attention of the international community in providing support, Mr. Flecher said that in his opinion, Sudan is the country that deserves support the most.
“This conflict will not be hidden from the United Nations, our aid workers on the battlefield are risking their lives to help the people of Sudan,” he told the BBC during a one-week security visit.
Most of the people who work with his team are Sudanese who have lost their homes, in this war of small powers between the country’s army and the RSF forces.
During Mr. Flecher’s first visit to Sudan, he went to the Mahmoud Maygoma orphanage in Kassala, in the east of the country, where more than 100 children are now in the house, which is a three-story building.
Original image, Joyce Liu / BBC
They lived with their guardians in Khartoum, the capital, until the country’s army and RSF fighters clashed in April 2023, leaving the country’s orphanages full of children as a result of the war. the country.
When the war spread to the orphanage, located in Wad Madani neighborhood in central Sudan, the survivors fled to Kassala.
When I asked 13-year-old Mahmoud about his wishes, he quickly opened his mouth – and his front teeth fell out.
“I want to be the governor of this state, because I rebuilt the houses that were destroyed,” he said.
For the 11 million Sudanese who have been transferred to refugee camps, returning them to their homes to rebuild their lives can be a great gift for them.
Now, finding something to eat is a big daily problem.
Likewise, for humanitarian agencies, including the United Nations, providing them with humanitarian supplies has become a big challenge.
Original image, Joyce Liu / BBC
During Mr. Fletcher’s four-day visit and meeting with officials in Port Sudan, the country’s military leader, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, announced on his X page that he had given the United Nations the right to bring more aid into the country. , with the use of three national airports for this work.
The new announcement comes at a time when the United Nations Food Program (WFP) has been able to reach some areas of the battlefield under the control of the RSF, including the Zamzam camp in the Darfur region, which contains about half a million people, where recently the famine was confirmed there.
“We have been trying for months to be able to reach these areas,” said Alex Marianelli, who heads WFP operations in Port Sudan state.
Behind us is the WFP food house, where Sudanese laborers load trucks with food to deliver to the areas where humanitarian aid is most needed.
Mr Marianelli said he had never worked in such a dangerous environment.
Among the aid agencies, some are criticizing the United Nations, saying that its hands are tied because of the recognition of General Burhan as the head of the country’s army.
General Burhan and the Sudanese authorities are in control of the investigations”, said Mr. Flecher.
“If we want to go to such places, we must have their approval.”
He also hopes that the RSF fighters will put the interests of civilians first.
“I will go anywhere, I will talk to everyone, to make sure that the aid is delivered to save lives,” said Mr. Flecher.
In the Sudanese war, both sides were accused of using hunger as a weapon of war.
The same goes for sexual abuse, which the United Nations has described as a “disaster” in Sudan.
Original image, Joyce Liu / BBC
I also asked some women who listened to Mr. Flecher’s speech during his visit.
“We desperately need help, but the main task is on the Sudanese people,” said Romissa, who works with an aid organization in the country, who told us the terrible things she has seen in Khartoum since the start of the war.
“It is time for the Sudanese to unite to get their freedom”.
Sudanese are trying to do what they have to with what little they have.
In a two-room house where abused women and orphans are taken care of, efforts are being made to help the abused people.
Its founder, Nour Hussein al-Sewaty, better known as Mama Nour, also started living at the Maygoma orphanage.
She also ran away from Khartoum to protect those in her custody. A woman who lives with her now was once raped before the war, then after the war she was kidnapped and raped again.
Mama Nour herself, who used to be full of confidence, is now nervous.
“We are getting tired of this job, we need help,” she said.
“We want to enjoy the freedom to carry out our activities without restrictions. We want to know that there are other people in the world who care about us, the people of Sudan.”
