UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides support to Member States’ efforts and priorities in meeting their gender equality goals and for building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. Since Saturday 15 April, intense fighting has been taking place in Sudan between the Sudan Army Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). After a bitter disagreement between the two most powerful generals on the integration of the RSF into the regular army of the respective armed forces, heavy fighting and street battles have broken out, especially in Sudan’s capital Khartoum, Marawi in the Northern State, North, South and East Central Darfur, Blue Nile Region and Blue Kordofan, and Eastern Sudan, and the Blue Nile. While some states remain relatively calm such as Red Sea State, armed Conflict continues in Khartoum, Marawi, Darfur Region and is expected to continue. To date, over 500 people have been killed and more than 6,000 injured. The real number is expected to be much higher, as many of the wounded are unable to reach the hospitals or receive medical care. The Sudan's health system is on the verge of collapse, as many hospitals have been forced to close because they have ran out of blood, medicines, and medical supplies, while in some cases medical personnel have been unable to go to work. According to media sources, more than 49 out 59 Khartoum hospitals are out of service, leaving insignificant number of hospitals in the capital fully or partially functional. Millions of people in Khartoum and Darfur have limited access to electricity, water, and food is running out, while and households can no longer provide for themselves due to challenges accessing banks and cash. Food delivery systems are at risk with limited access to markets and shops. Initial reports indicate that families in the affected areas are surviving on pre-conflict food stocks that are expected to run out any time. Access to vulnerable people is difficult and many humanitarian activities have been suspended due to insecurity. This results in a vicious circle: violence drives up the need for humanitarian services, while at the same time, insecurity reduces the number of organizations that can continue their work and affected people face many more obstacles in accessing services. Even before the fighting broke out, humanitarian needs in Sudan were at an all-time high, with a third of the population – approximately 16 million people – in need of humanitarian assistance majority women and girls. At present, there are already more than 3.7 million internally displaced persons in the country, some of them multiple times. It is expected that these numbers will rise as fighting spreads and intensifies. The effects of food shortages and the temporary suspension of humanitarian aid also affect women and girls most, as they have been disproportionately dependent on the assistance, especially in the areas of food security and nutritional care in a country where around 4 million children and pregnant and lactating women are severely malnourished. Over 50 per cent of these malnourished under-five children and PLW live in five states, including Khartoum accounting for 16 per cent, Aj Jazirah 9.7 per cent; South Darfur 9.2 per cent; North Darfur 8.6 per cent and Kassala 6.6 per cent of the total people in need at the national level. Women, and other vulnerable groups are disproportionately affected by the ongoing hostilities. There have been cases of sexual violence coming out of Sudan. Due to the current humanitarian crisis in Sudan, UN Women is looking for the support of a Resource Mobilization and Donor Relations Consultant to support mobilizing resources for humanitarian intervention in Sudan.
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