UAE promises not to arm Sudan paramilitaries, US lawmakers say

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00:00Washington says it's providing 200 million dollars in fresh aid to war-ravaged Sudan.

00:06Tens of thousands have been killed by a conflict that's lasted nearly two years

00:11and triggered the world's largest displacement crisis.

00:15With 1.7 million people facing famine,

00:18the country risks becoming the largest crisis on the planet, as Emily Boyle explains.

00:25Sabrine is eight months pregnant with her fourth child.

00:29Months of conflict in Sudan has forced her to flee her home.

00:33Sabrine is one of the estimated 2.7 million women of reproductive age

00:38who are displaced in Sudan, according to the UN Population Fund.

00:45After I give birth, I worry about the cold weather

00:49and not having a proper place to put my baby.

00:53We don't have a home. We sleep outside, on the floor.

01:01More than 272,000 pregnant women are currently displaced in Sudan

01:06and almost 91,000 will give birth in the next three months,

01:10often unable to access antenatal, safe delivery or postnatal services.

01:15As I approach childbirth, I worry about whether it will be a normal delivery

01:19or require a C-section.

01:21The thought of needing a C-section terrifies me because I cannot afford the costs.

01:25Up to 80% of health facilities are either closed

01:29or barely functioning in crisis-affected areas.

01:32As a result, women are dying from pregnancy and childbirth-related complications.

01:40We had to leave our villages.

01:42At the time, I was nine months pregnant

01:45and our men destroyed the health centers, so I had to leave.

01:50Sudan had already endured years of crisis

01:53but the war has unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe on an immense scale.

01:58The UN says nearly 1.5 million people across Sudan

02:01either face famine or are at risk of famine,

02:04including an estimated 35,000 pregnant women.

02:10For more, we're joined now by Shana Lewis, a Sudan specialist

02:14and senior advisor with PAEMA, a US-based organization

02:18working with vulnerable communities in Sudan and elsewhere.

02:22Shana, thank you so much for being with us on the program this evening.

02:26You have been giving an address at the UN today,

02:29calling on the Security Council to protect the people of Sudan.

02:33What was your main message there

02:35and what exactly does the Security Council need to do?

02:41Thank you for having me.

02:43The Security Council briefing today was about the urgent need

02:46for the Security Council to protect civilians in Sudan.

02:50We've seen the worst atrocities in the past 20 months of the war.

02:55We're looking at the world's largest displacement crisis,

02:58the world's largest food insecurity crisis,

03:01and the world's largest protection crisis, including child protection crisis.

03:05But somehow, amidst all of the atrocities in Sudan,

03:08the international community has failed the people of this country

03:12for the past 20 months.

03:14In the briefing today, I underscored the urgent need for the Council

03:17to take three key steps in protecting civilians in Sudan.

03:21The first is addressing the telecommunications blackout,

03:24which has persisted for almost 12 months,

03:27severing over 30 million people in Sudan

03:30from lifesaving and essential Internet connection,

03:33as well as access to phone lines and basic telecommunications networks.

03:38So the Council has the power to send in a technical assessment team to Sudan

03:44to conduct an assessment for the repair, the restoration,

03:49and the protection of Sudan's telecommunications networks,

03:52and to essentially break the blackout that the people of Sudan

03:55have been under for the past year.

03:58The second recommendation was for the Security Council

04:01to do what it should have been doing the whole time,

04:04which is following its own recommendations.

04:06The UN fact-finding mission for Sudan recommended the deployment

04:10of an independent, impartial protection of civilian force to Sudan.

04:17But unfortunately, that hasn't happened.

04:20The Council needs to follow its own recommendation from the FFM

04:25and pursue options for the deployment of a physical protection presence.

04:30If, after the assessment is done, it's clear that actually

04:34the conditions are unfavorable, then it's on the part of the Council

04:38to explain why they are then unable to deploy

04:42a remote monitoring mission to the country.

04:44A remote monitoring mission for Sudan would be at a fraction of the cost

04:48of a physical deployment and would allow early warning

04:52and early action systems to prevent the escalation of violence

04:55across the country.

04:56And the third key piece here is humanitarian access.

05:00Although there have been some improvements in securing

05:03humanitarian access in recent months, the international community

05:07still is not doing enough for Sudan.

05:09And the little trickle of aid that is entering the country

05:13is actually just delaying death.

05:16It's not saving lives.

05:17So the international community urgently needs to increase donations

05:21to the Sudanese humanitarian response plan and also needs to work

05:26hand-in-hand with Sudanese civil society and local humanitarian responders

05:31who are on the front lines providing life-saving humanitarian assistance

05:35through the emergency response rooms and other grassroots initiatives.

05:39Shani, you've referred to it several times.

05:41Why is the international community not doing more to intervene here?

05:45And why isn't the situation in Sudan receiving more attention?

05:53I think on Sudan, it's not a lack of options.

05:56It's really a lack of ambition from the Council.

05:58There are a range of mechanisms that the Council could be using right now,

06:02mechanisms that have existed for years, such as the Darfur sanctions regime

06:07and the Darfur arms embargo.

06:09But instead of enforcing these mechanisms, the UN continues to sit and watch

06:14and really just use words of condemnation for what is happening in Sudan

06:19rather than matching those words with action.

06:21So it's not that we need to reinvent the wheel to find solutions for Sudan.

06:26It's that the UN just needs to use the mechanisms that it already has.

06:30And frankly, the excuses of the Council and also member states,

06:36we've heard them time and time again.

06:38And when we're looking at a country of 49 million people

06:42that are being devastated by this war,

06:44by armed men who have no concern for civilian lives,

06:48the words of condemnation are no longer enough.

06:51So it's really incumbent on the Council to finally use the mechanisms

06:55that they have at hand and take action to protect civilians in Sudan.

07:00And Shana, you've called for those who are financing and benefiting

07:04from the conflict to be held account through sanctions.

07:07Now, reportedly, the United Arab Emirates, it has pledged this evening

07:11not to provide weapons to paramilitaries.

07:15What kind of impact will that have to what's happening on the ground?

07:20Frankly, the assurances of the United Arab Emirates

07:23that they are not providing weapons to the rapid support forces are very thin.

07:29We have the evidence compiled by the UN's own panel of experts

07:33that shows that the United Arab Emirates have been funneling weapons

07:37into western Sudan, into the Darfur region, through eastern Chad.

07:42So we need more than words from the United Arab Emirates

07:47that has to actually be an investigation at this point.

07:51We have the evidence, and now it's on the role of the Security Council

07:56to actually impose sanctions on these actors.

08:00But more than that, independent states can take their own unilateral sanctions,

08:05but nobody really wants to kind of look the UAE in the eye

08:10and take that bold ambition to say, actually,

08:14we prioritise the lives of Sudanese civilians over the gold

08:18that the UAE can provide to the world.

08:21And Shaina, the Biden administration, it's announced another $200 million

08:26in funding to Sudan.

08:28Are you expecting a change in approach when we have a new president

08:32in the White House in January?

08:35The change in administration in January could be an opportunity

08:41for a renewed approach to Sudan.

08:44Frankly, the Biden administration did not have a coherent policy on Sudan.

08:48And if the new administration were to actually take bold ambition,

08:52were to actually declare what is happening in Darfur as a genocide,

08:57this could lead to a renewed approach in which there is more international

09:01buy-in to the peace process on Sudan, but also more pressure

09:05on external backers in Sudan to ensure that those who are profiting

09:09from the conflict in Sudan can no longer do so

09:13and actually face accountability for their actions.

09:16Shaina, thank you so much for your time on the programme this evening.

09:19That is Shaina Lewis, Sudan Specialist and also Senior Advisor with PAEMA.

09:24Thank you so much.

09:26Up next, it's time for...

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