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UNHCR Press conference 11 October 2023
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46:26
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MP4
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2.7 GB
STORY: Sudan: Displacement update - UNHCR
TRT: 2 min 45s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 11 October 2023 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- Exterior medium shot: UN flag alley, UN Geneva
- Wide shot: speakers at the press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Mamadou Dian Balde, UNHCR Regional Bureau Director for the East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes, and Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Sudan Situation: “This is one of the largest protection crises that we are faced with today. Nearly six month and nearly 6 million people are affected who are leaving. And I would say inside Sudan itself there are a lot of people in urban settings that are affected equally and who do not have the resources to leave.”
- Close up, UNHCR spokesperson taking a photo
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Mamadou Dian Balde, UNHCR Regional Bureau Director for the East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes, and Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Sudan Situation: “I have seen and I have witnessed the level of human rights violations that have happened within Sudan so that what we hear from people who have crossed the borders is really heartbreaking and that’s the protection crisis that we are faced with and it has been ongoing for the past six months.”
- Wide shot: speakers and attendees at the press conference, screens with speaker
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Abdouraouf Gnon Konde, UNHCR Regional Bureau Director for West and Central Africa: “In my long career as a humanitarian worker what I have seen in Chad with this new emergency with such a rapid and vast displacement of people is the first time.”
- Wide shot, camera operators in control room
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Abdouraouf Gnon Konde, UNHCR Regional Bureau Director for West and Central Africa: “In Chad we estimate probably that by the end of the year we will reach unfortunately the number of 600,000 Sudanese refugees who will have just arrived following what’s happening in Sudan.”
- Medium shot: speaker at the press conference on podium filmed from behind
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Ayman Y. Gharaibeh, UNHCR Regional Bureau Director for the Middle East and North Africa: “ We have received over 300,000 Sudanese since the crisis erupted. For those who don’t know: in Egypt already pre-crisis there is 6 million Sudanese. Egypt has been really the safety zone throughout the decades of Sudan turbulent years. A place of safety, for some people almost home.”
- Medium shot: attendees at the press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Mamadou Dian Balde, UNHCR Regional Bureau Director for the East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes, and Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Sudan Situation: “We need this to end, we need to have a cessation of hostilities, we need to have a peace process that will help our brothers and sisters who have been obliged to flee their countries to go back to their countries”.
- Medium shot: speakers at the podium
- Medium shot: operator in control room
- Wide shot, attendees in press room
Teleprompter
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much for joining.
Apologies for the delay.
[Other language spoken]
I am the Interim Head of Global Comms for UNHCR and I am very pleased to introduce our panellists today to speak about the Sudan situation to you.
Next to me, you will see a Mamadou Dionvalde.
He's the UNHCR Regional Bureau Director for the East Horn and Great Lakes Region of Africa.
He's also the regional refugee coordinator for the Sudan situation.
You'll also hear from next to him Abdul Rauf Nogh Conde.
He's the UNHCR regional Bureau director for West and Central Africa.
And next to him is Ayman Garabe.
He's the UNHCR regional Bureau director for Middle East and North Africa.
The run of show will be we'll start with each of the gentleman next to me who will give a quick overview of the situation and then we will open it up for questions.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Dana, and good afternoon, everyone.
It is nearly six months since Day crisis started in Sudan and the crisis has LED close to 6 million people have been displaced internally as well as in externally within Sudan, over 5 million people and outside Sudan, in the neighbouring countries that Abdurwolf and Ayman will be speaking about, we have close to 1,100,000 women, children as well as all the persons who have crossed the borders very often under very difficult circumstances.
3 point I wanted to share with you, one is that, and some of you might have seen the extent of the violence, the extent of the human rights violations that have affected the protection of the individuals living within Sudan.
And I was able to witness some of it when 3 weeks ago, I went into Sudan, spent six days from Port Sudan to to Kasala to to Gaddaf to what Madani to Kosti and crossed into South Sudan.
I have seen and I have witnessed the level of human rights violations that have happened within Sudan.
So that what we hear from people who have crossed the borders is really heartbreaking.
And that's the protection crisis that we are faced with and it has been ongoing for the past six months.
The second point is really to say that we need this to end.
We need this to end.
We need to have a, a, a, a cessation of hostilities.
We need to have a peace process that will help our brothers and sisters who have been obliged to flee their countries to go back into their countries.
People who have been displaced within Sudan and there were what over 200,000 refugees were previously hosted around Khartoum who have been obliged to flee again within, within Sudan.
So the plea is for a cessation of hostilities and peace.
And my Third Point is, while this is still ongoing, we need to support the people who have been displaced within Sudan.
We have reached about 1,000,000 internally displaced persons with protection services, with shelter services and other services, but it's not enough.
People keep suffering and the level of suffering is extremely, extremely ****.
We need an end to that and we need international solidarity.
So far, only 29% of the needs that we have been sharing among 64 organisations and ourself, only 29% of the requests have been filled.
We thank the donors, the supporters of this, we thank the government, but we need that that response to be commensurate to the protection crisis that we are faced with.
I just wanted to thank the partners, but we need to do more and we need to do more and we need to do more.
Thank you very much, Dana.
Thank you very much.
Could we please go to Abdul Rauf please?
First and foremost, allow me to join my colleague Mohammadu to thank you all for joining us to learn more about the implication of the Sudan crisis in its neighbouring countries.
Indeed, the ramification of the Sudanese emergency are deep, and none more so than in neighbouring Child and the Southern African Republic.
Both nations are grappling with the influx of refugees fleeing the devastating conflict in Sudan, bringing with them stories of despair, loss and unfortunately continue vulnerability.
I was recently in charge with the **** Commissioner.
That was in September.
So I just returned from chat and I must share that in my long career as humanitarian worker, what I have seen in charge with this new emergency, with such a rapid and vast displacement of people is the first time the numbers as tethering over 420 new refugees, 420 new refugees in Chad and year 1920 thousand in Southern African Republic.
To put this in perspective, Chad has hosted more refugees in these in these mere 5 months than it has done so in the past 20 years.
Chad is now today the epicentre of this crisis.
The provinces of Udai, Sila and Wadifira in Chad are flooded with those escaping the arose in Sudan.
Local communities are doing their best, but the strain is evidence.
The spontaneous settlements, especially in places like Adre, are a testament to the urgency and scale of the situation.
Of the many Oring stories I heard, just like what Mamadou was saying, this is the protection crisis.
So from the many Aurora stories I heard, the tales of gender based violences are particularly tealing, including sexual *******, **** force, prostitution.
UN Asia in collaboration with local authorities and partners has been steadfast in its response.
In Chad, we have already allocated 42% of refugees away from **** risky border areas, while in Southern Africa Republic we are we are responding to address urgent humanitarian immense needs.
Of course, protection remains at the centre of our response given the **** percentage of the durable women and children.
I would like to echo the UN Asia **** Commission Commissioner to extend our profound gratitude to government or government and the people of Chad that have opened the borders and hurt to these refugees, especially in Chad in South Africa Republic.
Their compassion despite their own challenges, as we know, Chad itself is going through a very fragile political transition landscape, deserve immense recognition.
To our donors, I would like to say that your contributions are not just fans, they are life lines.
They have facilitated urgent humanitarian support.
But as the crisis continues, you have heard Mamadou saying that in Chad we estimate probably that by the end of the year we will reach, unfortunately, the number of 600,000 Sudanese refugees who have just arrived.
Following what's happening in Sudan, we will need sustained backing.
We need you to continue supporting the uprooted people.
Our current resources are stretching.
To continue our operation, we need not just funds but also international attention, advocacy and long term development assistance.
Long term development assistance, which also need to come at the same pace.
Just like we are doing as humanitarian workers, we are trained to respond to the humanitarian needs.
As the situation evolves, our commitment remains, but to uphold this pledge, we need the word unyielding support.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
And finally, we go to Ayman Garabe to give his remarks.
OK, thank you very much for the interest.
I'll be brief that with my with the country I'm covering within the Middle East and North Africa, which is in this case Egypt as the primary receiver of Sudanese and many other refugees.
We will complete the circle, the picture in Egypt in terms of the dire situation of the Sudanese, it's trauma, the impact of the crisis, the journey is no different than those described by only two other colleagues.
We have received over 300,000 Sudanese since the crisis erupted.
And for those who don't know, in Egypt already, pre crisis there is 6,000,000 Sudanese.
Egypt has been really the safety zone throughout the decades of Sudan turbulent years, a place of safety for some people almost at home.
Since there are strong ties, historic cultural language with Egypt and that has give us almost a head start in terms of the protection space.
The response because there is a pre crisis existing community that help us to receive them, help us identify their needs before they register and help us in crafting the type of response based on the actual needs as they conveyed it to us.
The reason why I'm saying this is because this is an urban refugee caseload.
They're scattered throughout cities such as Cairo with 20 million people.
So we would needed that important network of Sudanese to help us get the right information and find them and understand their needs who are the vulnerables and also help in in the schooling on arrival for some on how we deal with separated children because we continue to receive that and and see tailor made responses on the basis of what we get.
We are lucky to have a place like like Egypt because Sudanese enjoy access to the public health and education system in Egypt.
In other parts of the world, we work for years and invest in these two sectors to have that inclusion policy.
So at least in terms of health and education, they are treated as equal as the Egyptians.
We're trying to ramp up registration.
It is key when you speak about refugees in an urban centre, we don't have camps and that's another plus.
That goes for the Egyptian government that people are free to move anywhere.
But that falls on us, the burden of trying to identify them and make sure that we set up registration centre, increase our capacity to ensure everybody is registered.
Of the 300,000 people that are there, 100,000 have approached us.
We've so far registered 67,000.
So we are running at a pace of 1000 a month.
So hopefully we will be able soon to catch up with the rest of the population because that the registration means documenting documentation means we have a database.
We were able to by age and gender identify who was the most vulnerable and therefore help us in how we respond to these different populations.
We continue to receive hundreds from the border on daily basis.
There is a regime in place on the entry and stay of Sudanese, but we are setting up field offices.
This is normally we operate only in Cairo.
We've never needed to have field presence inside Egypt.
This is the first time that we will be setting up offices in the South in order to access those who are on route because they need support there.
Also to put mobile registration, you don't need to travel all the way to Cairo to be registered.
And therefore we're hoping to be able to expand the services further down South.
We're also engaged with the colleagues in Khartoum and trying to do a cross-border operation.
There are areas north of Khartoum where best reached through the Egyptian border.
So we're hopefully complimenting what my other colleagues inside inside Sudan are trying to do.
I'll conclude with that.
Thank you very much to all three gentlemen.
We are going to open it up for questions.
Please put your hand up online and I do ask that you identify yourself by name as well as the organisation you are working for.
Let's see, I don't see any hands up yet.
[Other language spoken]
Yes, hello, welcome one and all.
I, I, I have, I have a few questions for you.
First of all, you say you only have 29% of what you need, but you don't say how much you need.
So if you could tell us what your your appeal is and if you don't have the money to actually do what needs to be done.
Are you forced or have you been forced to cut some of the programmes?
I think that WFP World Food Programme has been forced to cut food rations in some cases.
So what is your main concern about about that?
I have a problem with my voice.
[Other language spoken]
And then to Mr Let's see, Guy Bay, the the North African person, you were talking about the welcome of refugees by Egypt, and yet I've heard that Egypt is actually asking for visas of incoming refugees because perhaps they're overloaded.
What is the situation there?
I have some other questions, but I'll leave them and let you answer those and hope my colleagues participate in this.
All right, so I don't overwhelm you with all of my questions at once.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much, Lisa.
I will go ahead and ask Mamadou if he would like to answer the first question and then we can go to Iman.
Thank you very much, Lisa.
Thanks for raising this good point.
And I'm sure Abdrawalf and Iman can also speak a bit to to them the first one.
Yes, we, we revised the call for the regional refugee response plan.
It is to cover 1.8 million people between April and December 2023 and as was for about 1 billion U.S.
dollars so far we have been able to cover this 29%.
And it is needs that include or start or the largest amount of resources that were required related to food.
WFP, the one you refer to because it's not only need for Unisia.
Unisia has the coordinating body brought together 63 order partners, NGOs, United Nations organisations and additional partners to coordinate that response across the five countries that are hosting the refugees much more immediately, but also in relation to certain dimensions of Sudan.
So this is what what has been the ask.
Since we are only funded at 29%, what is happening?
What are the consequences of that?
Let me give you an example of South Sudan.
South Sudan so far has received close to 300,000 people.
And of these 300,000 people who have come to South Sudan, 90% are S Sudanese.
And with IOM, with OCHA, with UNDP and other partners, we are at the border receiving them and we need a boat transportation plane to be able to help them move beyond the rank.
Rank is A very overcrowded area and some of you might have seen few weeks ago an article from the New York Times describing how challenging it is around the rank.
Overcrowded because we are not able to move people beyond that place.
And when they go to their areas of origin, 90% of them what is happening is that we are not able to help them reintegrate.
What does that mean?
[Other language spoken]
It means youth and and and and and and very other vulnerable groups being able to contribute perhaps to the fragility that we have seen in a place like South Sudan.
So the protection needs are not covered, one including food and water and other services.
But also what is happening is that it has some very profound risk in relation to the stability of the region.
And remember, Sudan is at a critical.
Area geographically across this region.
So that's one example I wanted to give, but I'm sure Abdroff and Ayman can provide a bit more.
[Other language spoken]
Maybe just to give you an example of in terms of consequences when it's come to the country like Chad, I mean, it's very important to understand that today we have more than 1,000,000 refugees in Chad.
Because I was saying that in the in, in less than 5 months, Chad has received 420,000 new Sudanese refugees.
But before that, Chad was already home for 415,000 Sudanese refugees.
But not only Sudanese refugees, we also had refugees coming from like Chad Basin, especially Nigeria, refugees coming from South Africa Republic, refugees coming from Cameroon.
So today one in 17 is a refugee in a country like Chad, which is I think a total population of 17,000,000.
So we can imagine one in 17 today in Chad is a refugee.
So in terms of consequences, if we are not founded at the level, you know we expect and as it's already happening, WFP is obliged to to cut the food that it can give to the former refugee case load.
So we are obliged to deprioritize solution initiative on which we were working like around the lag Chad Basin in Burgasola for the ID PS.
So we need we had to let all these initiative leave them behind and focus on this emergency.
So that gives an indication if we are not funded, how the situation will become traumatic and can even affect the stability of a country like like Chad.
Just to give you the last, last example, in Chad, two weeks ago, we were struggling to find our resources in order to open the 5th new camp.
Thanks to the generosity that the PRM, the Americans have given us, it has enabled us to open this new 5th camp.
And then with the resources that we have received, we were able also to make an extension of the existing camp so that people can continue to arrive.
So we definitely need more resources in order to be able to cope with the needs of the population.
[Other language spoken]
I think the two answers from my colleagues will give a good Segway to mine because it's almost the same theme but different context.
First, on the issue of the resources, as I mentioned, most of our assistance to urban refugees is in cash form to to vulnerable individuals or a cash for education for those who have kids in school.
So it's a cash based programme including the WFU voucher, it's also in in voucher form.
So it's a, it's a cash based programme provided by all the three operational agencies, unit, CRWFP and UNICEF.
So lack of resources, it's a simple calculation.
There would be less family that we would be able to cover because prioritising within an existing already small beneficiary population would mean that the cash transfer value would become meaningful.
So we will have to take off families off that beneficiary list on the border.
And the reason why I mentioned the 6,000,000 figure is because we knew from day one, even though the border was wide open from the start, the and the discussions with the Egyptian authorities at the highest level, including when the **** Commissioner was on mission there meeting the President.
That in recognition that this is not a crisis that will abate anytime soon.
There is a serious concern including security concerns because the border area with Sudan is a heavily militarised area with very small commercial channel that the population of the six million already in the country could in couple of before the end of that year if the border remained orbit would double.
And recognising that for at least the other caseload that they have there, the 150,000 Syrians, how the chapter of Egypt was poorly funded.
There is often that if resources are not enough, governments would feel that an over border policies need to be commensurate with a reasonable level of funding.
So they do not feel that they're on their own holding the baby.
So obviously there is an issue of resources, there's an issue of capacity, there's an issue of an overwhelming numbers that the country will end up receiving given the scenarios that we see around any possible solution to the conflict in Sudan.
The Egyptian introduced and they were quite clear in their communication with us, a visa regime, which means the numbers obviously had to come down because there is a philtre.
Now what we have done is top level advocacy but at the same time we offered also the support that they want from us in terms of increasing the capacity of the processing centre in Wadihalfa, in terms of visas, papers, people who come without passport documents, how they would process them.
So we are we are offering this possibilities to them.
Some we have managed to to deliver others they still, you know requires more of a kind of a security lens into who is filtering through to Egypt.
So these are some of the elements.
This is ongoing discussions.
This is not just, you know, the final, the March that we have, but obviously, you know, there are serious security Egyptian concerns among other things that they would like to have these philtres in place to see who, who would be able to cross and why.
Thank you very much for those comprehensive answers.
We have the floor open for more questions.
[Other language spoken]
If not, I understand that VOA has another question.
[Other language spoken]
I I'd like you the panel to discuss a bit more about the possibility, the serious possibility that the, if the Sudan crisis continues for long time, it looks as though it might go on for quite a while.
Are you very concerned about regional spillover instability in in the region?
Mr Balde, I think you already indicated that this was a problem, so if you could elaborate upon that situation.
And I'm wondering also that so many of these societies where the refugees are fleeing too are very poor and they are overstretched themselves with with their budgets.
And I don't know whether it's happening now, but are you concerned that tensions might grow between the host communities and the refugee communities?
And what this will create, what the the problems that will arise from that?
And just a couple of other quick things.
The the Chad border, I think it's probably pretty volatile if I'm not mistaken.
I'm wondering whether there are any cross-border clashes at all, whether what you are doing as far as that goes, moving the refugees away from the border.
In case this is this is a problem and I know there are, there are efforts to get humanitarian aid across from Chad into Darfur.
What, how does that impact on the refugee population?
And then you may have mentioned it, but lastly, do you, let's see, the refugee population now is 1.
I don't think it's 1.8.
[Other language spoken]
And do you anticipate that is likely to grow in the coming months?
[Other language spoken]
Go ahead and thanks for the question.
If you take a country like Chad, you're absolutely right.
This is a country that is grumbling with its own security on different borders.
You just take the border with Central Africa Republic.
[Other language spoken]
As I was saying, this is the reason why we have Nigerian refugees in Bagasola in the Lac Chad Basin region.
You take Libya is a challenge, of course, Sudan is a challenge.
And just to tell, This is why I remember when we were there and then we met with the authorities, they were telling us that, you know, with the little resources that they have, domestic resources that they can mobilise, they are doing a lot in terms of security.
And this is one of the reason where why they expect that the international community can really extend hands and come and then make sure that they can take care of the humanitarian dimension, not only for the refugees, but also for the host community.
And you're absolutely right.
If nothing's done for the horse population in all these dire regions where, you know, development is still needed, then of course, it will be very difficult for them to understand that the government and the international community is only focusing the attention toward the camp, whereas the host communities themselves are left with almost nothing.
[Other language spoken]
And this is This is why we are saying that of course, in the immediate terms, humanitarian is needed, but clearly there is a limitation.
And this is the reason why development resources need to be also sought so that all these resources or initiative can go hand in hand.
So attention is there if nothing's done, if the level of funding remains as it is.
And then I'll remember we were also discussing with the local authorities, and they told us that there was no clashes at the borders.
But of course, among those who are coming and seeking refute in Chad, there were some combatants, but they were disarm and they are doing what they have to do to make sure that they are not, you know, subject of difficulty in the way that they want to manage security.
But clearly there are some some some risk there.
So this is what I can say in terms of the situation in chat.
I think anywhere in the world where you have a conflict that drags on and the potential for Sudan to drag on, it will become another of one of my long list of protracted problems that I have in my part of the world start from Yemen and end of the Arabia, all of them.
So quite clearly, even if you have the most hospitable of nations, even if it's fully funded, there comes a limit where the public, even if they're supported, they will reach a point of really fatigue.
The support to host community is key.
Investment in the public sectors that are providing the services to refugee children in in in schools and health is key.
And the length of that conflict that generates almost a a generation shift.
You'll begin to deal with the children of the first arrivals.
It gets extremely complicated to maintain that social cohesion.
And This is why we try from the start to build in some of these resilience to avoid a situation like that, like I'm in right now with the Syria crisis 12 years on.
So even the most hospitable nations around Syria are really now saying enough is enough.
I hope we don't reach that point with Sudan, but the prospect for that to continue is quite ****.
And this is ultimately the concern and solutions then even if there is some sort of settlement within the country becomes far more complicated than trying to address it in the first one, two to three years maximum.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Ayman and Abdrov.
But really not too much to add to this, except going back to the second point I raised in my, I think in my introduction, it's the need for an end of the hostilities as quickly as possible.
This is already close to six months.
In few days it will be 6 months since the crisis started.
[Other language spoken]
Ayman spoke about the Syrian crisis.
The level of displacement within six months for the Sudan situation is higher than the Syrian crisis within six months.
And at the same time the level of attention is absolutely low.
So I would say the, the the, the, the immediate need is an end of hostilities so that people can rebuild their lives.
But we know that a displaced persons told us from Sudan that a few weeks ago.
I think I've lost my past and I do not want to lose my future.
This is what they are telling us.
So really great attention to this crisis, greater support to the crisis, support to accelerate effort for peace and of hostilities is there.
In the meantime, the populations we are serving need support and the host populations as indicated.
You just heard about the urban refugees in Egypt, you heard about the marginalised communities in Chad.
I will add the marginalised communities in South Sudan, the fragile situation in South Sudan as well as you know, neighbouring Ethiopia as well.
So these are the type of situations that we have to deal with now.
[Other language spoken]
We have now reached over 1.1 million refugees.
[Other language spoken]
It's beyond the statistics.
It's about all these numbers.
We are unfortunately projecting that between now and the end of the year, we might reach 1.8 million displace if things continue at this rate.
And as I indicated earlier, the ask is about 1 billion for 64 other organisations that are going to come with us.
So that we are working together to respond in support of communities and and unfortunately only supported that 29%.
So this is what we are, we, we are dealing with what will happen if we do not get the resources is what you have heard.
It's about cohesion, it's greater fragility.
It's people who no longer can eat, people who do no longer are able to have access to their basic rights.
But it's also negative copy mechanism.
It's about child labour, it's about risk of prostitution.
It's taking these communities, putting them in the hand of smugglers and traffickers, because what we have already started saying is that the movements are not limited within these countries that we have indicated.
Now we started seeing an increase in the number of Sudanese rich in Europe.
We have started seeing that and it might continue if people, communities are not supported.
The risk is the risk of stability and stability throughout the region.
And Sudan is a major country between the Red Sea up to the Atlantic Ocean for all the reasons that you are all aware of.
I would say on the using Chad to support brothers and sisters in Darfur, a lot of work is being done.
We are working with the with the government of Chad, with our partners in Chad.
It is not logistically something easy in terms of security.
It's not easy the limit or the the limitations of capabilities are there.
But we have been able from time to time with WFP, with UNICEF, with NGO partners, UNHCR, we've been able to carry a few, a few resources including non food items, but it's not enough.
And again, the answer, the real solution to all this is a cessation of hostilities and peace so that people can return and enter such a time.
It's about supporting them.
I would just stop there for the time being.
Thank you very much to all three of you.
And and just for the press corps to know we're actually really lucky to have them all here today.
[Other language spoken]
And so if you have any questions, it would this is your opportunity to hear from them as they're close to the ground.
I'll give it a couple of more seconds.
[Other language spoken]
If not, I actually think that there was that Mamadou's remarks just now really summed up a lot of what we're trying to get across to the media and and to donors.
But I would like to let the panel each have if they have one last thing that they would like to express.
And a message that they would like to send.
[Other language spoken]
Maybe just what I heard from a woman when I was with her in the camp which is called Orang, which is which is like maybe one hour drive away from address.
She was telling me, unfortunately, she was raped and she was saying that, I mean, these people have taken, you know, not only my present, but they have also taken my, my future.
And when you are confronted with such testimony, then you ask yourself, how can I help in terms of psychosocial support?
And not only that, how can we regain, how can we help someone like that woman to really regain dignity and then move ahead with her life?
So definitely we need support to be in the capacity with other partners and the government of Chad to respond to the needs of to the immense needs of the forcibly displaced.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Did you have any last words?
[Other language spoken]
You know, yesterday or the day before was mental health Day.
I think this is the biggest car that refugees carry, which we cannot see.
We see the shelter and the clothing and the water pump not pumping, but we don't see is really the inside story within them.
And that in my view, the most complicated thing that humanitarian aid workers would have to to deal with.
And it's extremely important because while we're rebuilding things, I think rebuilding their life starts with instilling that self-confidence in them as human beings.
Because to leave your country and home and it's a big decision and even by the way, a bigger decision when peace is there to decide to go, it's a different calculation.
But it's they're both quite torturing, you know, realities and they carry with them and they would need individual support and that in the figures that Muhammadu was talking about, nearly impossible to try and address that for every individual refugees.
This doesn't cost a whole lot of money, but it needs really certain expertise and for us to recognise that this need exist.
It's tormenting and it's good that we have a day in this 3rd 165 days for to remind us that actually this is one of the biggest needs for people who go through this dramatised experience leaving their country.
Thank you, thank you Ayman and thank you Abdul Rauf.
Just to say again that this is the one of the largest protection crisis that we have been faced with, that we are faced with today nearly six months and nearly 16 million people affected who are living and I would say inside Sudan itself.
There are a lot of people in urban settings who are affected equally and who do not have the resources to leave, to be one of the 1.1 million people who have left the country.
It is a test for all of us to to to make sure that this protection crisis is not forgotten.
It is a test to all of us to have a protection response that will help those sisters and brothers who are affected by the crisis, so that we can alleviate the suffering that we are able to, to help them leave a bit more of dignified lives.
It is such a time they they, they, they, they, they regain what they used to do.
And there were teachers, there were doctors, there were engineers, there were students and Sudan also used to receive a large number of of refugees are coming from South Sudan and and all of them, this is at the human level.
What also and I think is critical is that in terms of stability for the region, it is necessity for all of us to pay attention to it so that we do not say at some point we did not know people are suffering and the level of suffering, the magnitude of the displacement might have some adverse consequences.
And so who you who are behind the screens, please, let's all play our, our role into, into mitigating the impact.
And we, we count on you on, on, on, on this partnership, 29% of funds as of now for 1.8 million people between now and the end of the year.
And we pray that will not be coming with the same numbers for 2024.
We do not want it and it will not be helpful.
Thank you very much.
Thank you so much, Mamadou, and thank you Abdul Rauf and also Ayman.
I really want to thank the panellists today who have taken the time to to travel and do this while they are also in their regions dealing with several emergencies.
I also want to thank all of the journalists who are online for continuing to cover this humanitarian crisis in Sudan and and the surrounding countries as it continues to unfold.
And as you heard so eloquently from the panellists, it's something that needs as much global attention as possible.
So thank you very much and wishing you a great day.