PORT SUDAN:Sudan has once again topped a watchlist of global humanitarian crises released by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) aid organization, as warring sides press on with a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people.
It is the third time in a row Sudan has headed the list, which was published on Tuesday. It highlights the 20 countries most at risk of new or worsened humanitarian emergencies.
“What the IRC is seeing on the ground is not a tragic accident. The world is not simply failing to respond to crisis; actions and words are producing, prolonging, and rewarding it,” IRC CEO David Miliband said in a statement.
“The scale of the crisis in Sudan, ranking first on this year’s Watchlist for the third year in a row and now the largest humanitarian crisis ever recorded, is a signature of this disorder.”
War erupted in April 2023 from a power struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, and triggered the world’s largest displacement crisis. More than 12 million people have already been displaced by the ongoing war in Sudan, where humanitarian workers lack resources to help those fleeing, many of whom have been raped, robbed or bereaved by the violence.
Sudan is followed by the Palestinian territories, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Haiti, according to the list.
The IRC said although these countries are home to just 12 percent of the global population, they account for 89 percent of those in humanitarian need. It added that the countries are projected to host more than half of the world’s extreme poor by 2029.
The remaining countries on the list are Myanmar, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Burkina Faso, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Chad, Colombia, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen.
Sudan once again tops International Rescue Committee crises watchlist
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Sudan once again tops International Rescue Committee crises watchlist
- It is the third time in a row Sudan has headed the list, which was published on Tuesday
- It highlights the 20 countries most at risk of new or worsened humanitarian emergencies
Somali president visits city claimed by breakaway region
MOGADISHU: Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Friday visited a provincial capital claimed by the breakaway region of Somaliland -- the first visit there by a sitting president in over 40 years.
The visit to Las Anod, the administrative capital of the Sool region, comes amid heightened diplomatic tensions in the Horn of Africa after Israel officially recognised Somaliland, drawing strong opposition from Mogadishu.
Mohamud was attending the inauguration of the president of the newly created Northeast State, which became Somalia's sixth federal state in August.
It was the first visit by a Somali president since 1984.
Somalia is a federation of semi-autonomous states, some of which have fraught relations with the central government in Mogadishu.
The Northeast State comprises the regions of Sool, Sanaag and Cayn, all territories Somaliland claims as integral to its borders.
Somaliland had controlled Las Anod since 2007 but was forced to withdraw in 2023 after violent clashes with Somali forces and pro-Mogadishu militias left scores dead.
Mohamud's visit "is a symbol of strengthening the unity and efforts of the federal government to enforce the territorial unity of the Somali country and its people", the Somali president's office said.
