The agency's head of humanitarian affairs, Martin Griffiths, called for an end to the nine-month conflict that has led the country “into a downward spiral that is becoming more ruinous by the day.”
The new year demands that the international community – particularly those with influence over the parties to the conflict in Sudan – take decisive and immediate action to end the fighting and secure humanitarian operations to help millions of civilians, he stressed in a statement Explanation.
The High Representative's warning coincides with worsening conditions for civilians in the African country since December 15, when Wad Madani, the country's second largest city, fell into the hands of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The United Nations estimates that between 250,000 and 300,000 people have been displaced from the city and surrounding areas, many of whom had already fled the capital Khartoum and its surrounding areas during previous clashes.
The ongoing mass displacement could also fuel the rapid spread of a cholera outbreak in Aj Jazirah state, where more than 1,800 suspected cases have been reported so far, Griffiths lamented.
The same horrific abuses that have characterized this war in other troubled areas such as Khartoum, Darfur and Kordofan are now also being reported in Wad Medani, with widespread human rights violations, including sexual violence, he added.
The High Representative deplored the lack of commitment of the parties to the conflict to the protection of civilians and international humanitarian law, while condemning the looting of humanitarian supplies, which undermines the ability to save lives.
“The escalation of violence in Sudan also threatens regional stability,” he said, recalling that the war had triggered the world’s largest displacement crisis, affecting more than seven million people.
dfm/ebr