Sudan is facing the world’s worst hunger and displacement crisis, with millions of people suffering from famine and forced migration.
Earlier this year, I visited Sudan to see the extent of the humanitarian crisis with my own eyes. What I witnessed shocked me.
Entire families were being forced to survive on just one small meal a day, IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps were overflowing with displaced people, and individuals shared horrific stories of violence and brutality. But what surprised me the most was the lack of international attention.
The war in Sudan has created the world’s worst hunger and IDP crises. Over 11 million people have been displaced, more than the combined population of London and Birmingham.
Half of the country’s population, 25.6 million people, are food insecure, meaning they don’t know when their next meal will come, and with the war driving farmers off their land, looting markets, and depriving people of humanitarian aid, famine has now reached the Darfur region.
However, since the conflict erupted in April 2023, international attention has remained silent in the face of such a large-scale humanitarian crisis. When I visited IDP camps in Port Sudan and Gedaref, I didn’t see a single news team. Twenty years ago, this would have been unheard of in a crisis of Sudan’s magnitude.
Of course, there are significant challenges for journalists, given the chaos across the country, and local Sudanese journalists have faced serious risks while trying to report on the crisis. Despite these obstacles, some excellent reporting has been done in recent months.
However, the volume of coverage that matches the scale of the crisis still needs to be vital. Without media attention, the political, diplomatic, and humanitarian action that Sudan desperately needs is unlikely to happen.
So why is Sudan struggling to gain attention? There are a number of different factors that have deprived Sudan of the attention it so urgently needs.
The world has turned inward.
Sadly, I believe the world has become more inward-looking, distancing itself from the problems of others. The global economic downturn in recent years, along with poverty and suffering in our own country, the United Kingdom, has exacerbated problems worldwide.
At Islamic Relief UK, as we strive to alleviate rising poverty levels in our own country, we are increasing our local programs each year.
Unfortunately, this means that the suffering of people in other countries is less likely to receive our attention.
