Why Humanitarian Aid Matters: My Personal Connection to Sudan, by Waeil Musa, Oxfam Canada (shared by Niloufar)
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| Renk transit center that is hosting hundreds of thousand of people fleeing the conflict in Sudan. Photo: Herison Philip Osfaldo/Oxfam |
It describes how escalating violence and mass displacement from Sudan into already fragile South Sudan are colliding with severe global aid cuts, leaving a widening gap between humanitarian needs and available funding. It explains how Oxfam and its local partners continue to provide water, food, cash assistance, sanitation, and support for women and infants in Sudan and South Sudan, and calls for solidarity through continued humanitarian support.
Quotes:
“Sudan was home. A country filled with simple moments that shaped who I am today: family gatherings, a strong community, and childhood memories.”
“Leaving home is not just about moving from one place to another. It is leaving behind your sense of safety, identity, and belonging.”
“In moments when systems fail and support falters, human solidarity remains one of the most powerful forces we have.”
“Leaving home is not just about moving from one place to another. It is leaving behind your sense of safety, identity, and belonging.”
“In moments when systems fail and support falters, human solidarity remains one of the most powerful forces we have.”
The human suffering in Sudan is horrific. Millions have been displaced, cities destroyed, and families shattered, and humanitarian agencies are struggling to cope. People urgently need protection, food, and shelter.
ReplyDeleteBut there is also a truth that deserves attention: many of the external actors involved in Sudan’s tragedy are not poor countries overwhelmed by events, but wealthy and powerful states pursuing their own interests.
Regional powers such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, alongside actors including Turkey, Egypt, and Russia, have at various times backed rival factions, supplying arms, financing militias, and intervening politically in ways that have fuelled the tragedy. Sudan’s conflict has become a theatre for outside influence and regional competition.
Yet when the country collapses into a humanitarian catastrophe, the costs are shifted elsewhere. International aid agencies appeal to Western taxpayers, while the states that helped fuel the conflict face remarkably little scrutiny or responsibility.
Humanitarian aid remains necessary and urgent. Civilians should not pay the price for geopolitical games played over their heads. But neither should humanitarian assistance become a mechanism through which powerful states pass the bill to the West for the consequences of their own interventions.
Those who fuel wars should also pay for the devastation that follows.