Musings From Abroad

UN admits difficulty in reaching 18 million persons in Sudan as fighting rages

Published

1 year ago

October 5, 2023

The United Nations Thursday admitted to having difficulty in reaching 18 million persons in need in Sudan, in its bid to fend off a humanitarian disaster in the troubled North African country.

Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, said, “We need to reach 18 million people and we will not give up on that target, but we need more international support, better access to the people who need us and safety for our operations.”

UN says red tape has been impeding the flow of humanitarian relief, and only one-third of a $2.6 billion plea to the international community for aid to the Sudanese people had been funded. Another challenge has been attacks on aid workers, as the UN chief revealed 19 relief workers had died and 29 had been injured, which he deemed unacceptable and illegal.

“We’re not at this point able to have an operation that is commensurate to the scale (of needs),” she said.

In the middle of April, fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), causing a severe humanitarian catastrophe and bringing the nation dangerously close to civil war.

Due to the war, more than 4.2 million people have left their homes, and approximately 1.2 million of them have entered neighbouring countries, placing a tremendous strain on Sudan’s limited resources.

“We also need to see an end to interference from the conflict parties in our operations, including forced checks of humanitarian trucks and mandatory military presence during the loading process in Port Sudan and Jazeera,” she said.

“I hope that we will see swift action to reduce the bureaucratic obstacles, including delays in visa approvals for staff as promised by Sudanese authorities in a donor meeting yesterday.”

The violence might intensify, according to the United Nations, if it moves to other regions, such as central Jazeera state, which she referred to as “Sudan’s breadbasket,” where fighting could impede food supply. “Food security will suffer greatly as a result of this.”

Related Topics:Featured Sudan United Nations

Click to comment

Musings From Abroad

Nigeria, India to strengthen counterterrorism, maritime security cooperation

Published

11 hours ago

November 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

During a state visit to Nigeria on Sunday, Indian Prime Minister, Narendra, Modi reached an agreement, on behalf of his country, to strengthen cooperation in counterterrorism, intelligence, and maritime security.

President Bola Tinubu invited Modi to visit Nigeria, the first Indian prime minister to do so in 17 years.

Tinubu is looking for investments from some of the largest economies in the world.

In addition to discussing economic development, defence, healthcare, and food security, Modi and Tinubu met at the presidential mansion on Sunday after arriving in the capital, Abuja, on Saturday night, according to a joint statement.

The two nations decided to work together to protect maritime trade routes and fight piracy in response to the mounting risks in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Guinea.

The most populous country in Africa, Nigeria, is looking to attract more Indian investment and lower-cost credit lines in order to strengthen its economy and generate employment.

Nigeria announced last year that it had obtained about $14 billion in pledges from Indian businesses, including Jindal Steel and Power, which promised to spend $3 billion in Nigeria’s steel industry, during the G20 conference.

Over 200 Indian businesses are present in Nigeria.

Modi was scheduled to go to Brazil for this year’s G20 conference after Nigeria.

Nigeria and India have a long-standing and cordial bilateral relationship. Nigeria, home to more than 200 million people, and India, home to 1.3 billion people, are both sizable emerging nations with multilingual, multiethnic, and multireligious communities.

Musings From Abroad

Military advisors from Russia arrive Equatorial Guinea

Published

1 day ago

November 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Russian military advisors are in Equatorial Guinea training indigenous soldiers.

Anonymous sources cited by Reuters during the week claim that between 100 and 200 Russian instructors are training with elite guards in charge of guarding the President and the first family.

The males had been seen in Malabo, the country’s capital, and Bata, its second city. Reports of Russian forces stationed in the nation initially appeared in August.

Oil-rich Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has maintained close relations with Moscow.

Nguema travelled to Moscow in September to attend the Russian Energy Week International Forum.

Russia has strengthened military connections with African countries, sending advisors and combat soldiers to the Central African Republic, Mozambique, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.

Faced with an Islamist terrorist insurrection, three Sahel countries have turned to Moscow for support, expelling French and American troops.