As war rages on, new Sudanese group hopes ‘localized’ aid can save lives
Activists and humanitarians who spoke to Al-Monitor said the grassroots initiative is crucial to aid efforts in Sudan due to the localized nature of their response and difficulties international organizations face in the country.
NEW YORK — A new Sudanese aid group has unveiled a mechanism it says will more directly get funds to relief workers on the ground in the war-torn country, an endeavor boosted by a $2 million donation announced on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly last week week.
The Mutual Aid Sudan Coalition, which launched in May, is a collective of organizations that seeks to provide direct funding to local groups responding to Sudan’s humanitarian crisis, including the so-called Emergency Response Rooms. The ERRs are local support groups formed by youth after the start of the civil war that provide aid to civilians, including food, water, evacuation assistance and health care.
The coalition announced on Sept. 23 it will donate at least $2 million to aid groups in Sudan by the end of 2024, and pledged to raise an additional $4.5 million for the groups within the next two years, the Associated Press reported. The announcement was made at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York City.
The Sudanese civil war broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) rebels. More than 18,800 have been killed and another 10 million plus have been displaced since the war began, according to UN statistics from earlier this month. The situation is widely described as the largest displacement crisis in the world.
