Sir, – In the space of 24 hours this week, two UN Security Council vetoes dealt cruel blows to draft resolutions that sought to address calamitous humanitarian crises in Sudan and Gaza.
The draft resolutions called for immediate ceasefires, the protection and safe passage of civilians, and the safe delivery of humanitarian aid. Their veto means that the suffering of the people of Gaza and Sudan will continue to go unchecked.
Our emergency response teams in Sudan and neighbouring countries have seen first-hand how acutely the world’s largest humanitarian crisis is deteriorating each day as the levels of displacement, hunger and disease continue to rise.
More than 26 million people are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance; nearly 12 million have been forced to flee their homes; and in July, famine-like conditions were declared in North Darfur and may now have spread to other areas of the country.
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In Gaza, nearly 44,000 Palestinians have been killed in little over a year, and 1.9 million of Gaza’s population of 2.2 million have been displaced, some of them on multiple occasions. The recent famine alert stated that the humanitarian situation was extremely grave and rapidly deteriorating, and that there was an imminent and substantial likelihood of famine. It concluded that urgent action must be taken “within days not weeks” to alleviate a “humanitarian catastrophe”.
Despite the best efforts of aid workers to support affected communities, access remains challenging and frequently dangerous. As a result, the provision of aid remains totally inadequate to meet the massive level of needs.
Given the severity of needs in Sudan and Gaza, the United Nations and all of its member states must find a way to break the political deadlock and end the fighting, ensure safe, scaled-up humanitarian responses, and establish a lasting, peaceful settlement to these conflicts. The failure to do so will see famine and suffering spreading and exacting an even more horrific toll. – Yours, etc,
DOMINIC CROWLEY,
Chief Executive,
Concern Worldwide,
Dublin 2.