UN General Assembly: President Yang stresses urgent collaboration with Security Council in response to worsening of humanitarian crisis in Sudan

On November 26, 2024, at the UN General Assembly meeting, President Philémon Yang called attention to the compelling necessity for a concrete and synergistic response by the General Assembly and the Security Council in the face of the escalating humanitarian situation in Sudan, already made critical by the outbreak in April 2023 of violent armed clashes between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The spreading of the conflict within the country has provoked, according to UNHCR data, the displacement of over 11.8 million people, including 3.1 million in neighbouring countries contributing to increasing instability in the region. There is also a worrying rise in widespread cases of sexual violence and other human rights violations, disruption of full operation in nearly 80 percent of health centers, and the emergence of famine in some areas, such as Zamzam camp in North Darfur, issues that, despite many difficulties, UN agencies are trying to address by providing humanitarian aid to civilians.

President Yang criticized the reiterated use of veto power by the permanent members of the Security Council in recent years and he urged the Assembly to be more resourceful when the Council is restricted in its capacity to act. He also called upon the international community not to consider the situation in Sudan as a secondary issue compared to other ongoing conflicts around the world. His intervention represents an important signal after Russia’s veto that resulted in the Security Council’s failure to adopt a draft resolution to facilitate humanitarian access in the country and reinforce the protection of civilians.