Coronavirus: UN warns untold suffering awaits Sudan unless it receives helping hand

29 Avril 2020

Khartoum, Sudan, April 29 (Infosplusgabon) – The UN has said Sudan will suffer hugely without international assistance to help the government overcome its current economic crisis brought by unilateral sanctions and worsened by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

Dr Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on Tuesday expressed serious concerns about the crisis facing Sudan’s transition in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that untold suffering awaits unless donors act fast.

In a press release by the UN human rights body, Bachelet said barely a year after the removal from power of long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir, the promise of economic and social development, democracy, justice and peace is now being threatened by acute resource constraints on the Transitional Government of Sudan.

She added that these are being exacerbated by a combination of the practical effects of ongoing unilateral sanctions, the failure of international institutions to provide debt-relief, and a deficit of international support.

“The tipping point,” the UN Human Rights Chief said, “could be COVID-19.”

The release pointed out that medical sources have warned there is a serious shortage of equipment and protective gear. As of 27 April, 275 people had been tested positive with coronavirus, 22 of whom have died.

“The health system is simply not equipped to handle an outbreak on the scale we have seen elsewhere in the world. There is only one way to prevent a humanitarian disaster, and that is for the donors to step up and extend a helping hand to Sudan,” the release quoted Bachelet as saying on Tuesday.

“We must act swiftly and generously to provide financial support. Otherwise, we run the risk of a country which held such promise relapsing back into political instability and potential conflict.”

The release referred to a letter to the UN Secretary-General on 8 April 2020, when the Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok acknowledged that COVID-19 poses profound challenges to his country’s health system, economy, and society as a whole, and he sought financial and other technical support to tackle the pandemic.

Of Sudan’s population of 43 million people, nearly 2 million remain internally displaced as a result of conflicts in Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile state. Most face dire conditions, living in camps or settlements, unable to meet their basic needs. Sudan also hosts more than 1.1 million refugees and migrants.

In the meantime the UN Secretary-General has urged the international community to do all it can to support the country in its transition, and during this time of serious need.

FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/APM/GABON2020

© Copyright  Infosplusgabon