Surviving in Wad Madani: Overcrowding, Disease, and Hunger in War-Torn Sudan
The ongoing conflict in Sudan has left hundreds of thousands of people displaced and struggling to survive. In the Blue Nile river town of Wad Madani, many have found refuge in makeshift camps set up in schools, university dormitories, and other buildings. However, overcrowding, widespread disease, and creeping hunger are taking a toll on the survivors.
Overcrowding and Lack of Basic Services
Soukaina Abdel Rahim is one of the survivors who now lives with six family members in a room in the girls’ dormitory at Al-Jazirah University in the east of Wad Madani. She describes the accommodation as uncomfortable, with a lack of space and privacy. They share showers and toilets with 20 other rooms on the floor, each of which accommodates an entire family.
Basic services are also scarce in the region, with long water and electricity cuts often occurring. Hanan Adam, who has been displaced with her husband and four children, says that with the high temperatures and the proliferation of mosquitoes, all her children have contracted malaria. However, seeing a doctor in Wad Madani is a minor miracle. In one of the town’s camps, the aid group Doctors Without Borders has been able to dispatch just one medical doctor and four nurses for about 2,000 displaced people.
Widespread Disease and Malnutrition
The lack of basic services and overcrowding have led to widespread disease among the displaced population. Many have contracted malaria, which was already a major killer in the country before the war. A doctor who works across the town’s 13 displacement camps says that malnutrition is beginning to affect children. He adds that they are already seeing worrying cases arrive in the clinics of the camps for the displaced.
Sudan’s own capacity to produce food has deteriorated further due to water scarcity and decades of sanctions under former President Omar Bashir. UNICEF reports that one of Sudan’s many buildings destroyed in the war was Khartoum’s Samil factory, which had previously met 60 percent of the nutritional needs for children in need. According to the UN children’s agency, some 620,000 Sudanese children now suffer from acute malnutrition, and half of them could die if they do not receive help soon.
Shortage of Aid and Funds
Humanitarian aid groups long active in Sudan have been overwhelmed, and at times targeted, in the war. Many of their Sudanese staff are exhausted or holed up in their homes, while foreign staff wait for visas. UN and non-government aid agencies are short of funds and, above all, unable to transport what relief goods they have as fighting rages in multiple hotspots across the country.
In a country where one in three people suffered from hunger even before the war, initiatives by neighbors and young volunteers are not enough to address the growing hunger crisis. Survivors like Soumaya Omar say that they have received food parcels but there is no infant milk in them. She adds that amid Sudan’s runaway inflation and massive shortages, they do not have the means to buy it.
Conclusion
The conflict in Sudan has left hundreds of thousands of people displaced and struggling to survive. In Wad Madani, overcrowding, widespread disease, and creeping hunger are taking a toll on the survivors. Basic services are scarce, and seeing a doctor is a minor miracle. Malnutrition is beginning to affect children, and aid agencies are short of funds and unable to transport relief goods as fighting rages across the country. The situation is dire, and urgent action is needed to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.