In just a month, the ICRC’s mobile surgical unit in Renk provided care to over 230 patients injured by weapons.
Picture this: since the cold winds of December 2024 began to blow, chaos has cast its dark shadow over the Blue Nile, White Nile, and Sennar regions in Sudan, pushing over 120,000 souls to seek haven across the border into South Sudan. Amid this emotional exodus are countless individuals bearing the scars of violence, desperately in need of skilled medical attention. Enter the heroics of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), whose dedicated doctors stepped up to provide life-saving care for those in the crossfire.
Florence Gillette, the compassionate voice of the ICRC in Juba, shared, “From the 8th of December onwards, our mobile surgical crew has bravely rolled up their sleeves and performed over 250 intricate surgeries. Now, even though the peak was over a hundred, there remain some 70 souls still recovering from weapon-related injuries in our care.” Her voice carries more than just facts; it’s a rallying cry for the injured, emphasizing that under the guiding principles of international humanitarian and human rights laws, everyone—yes, everyone—deserves protection and uninhibited access to essential healthcare services.
But it doesn’t stop at the operating table. Tackling the tidal wave of patients, the ICRC has teamed up with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). This dynamic duo is crafting a lifeline of post-operative care at the hospital in Renk County, threading hope into the looming uncertainty.
The town of Renk is creaking under the weight of Sudanese refugees and South Sudanese returnees. It’s a logistical nightmare, paired with another problem for dessert: a relentless cholera outbreak. Over 20,000 cases have been reported, ramping up the stakes in this humanitarian chess game.
To cut the head off this serpentine threat, the ICRC lends a hand to the South Sudanese Red Cross (SSRC), ensuring that clean drinking water flows and promoting hygiene habits to stave off the cholera beast. They’re like unsung heroes, slogging away to spread cholera awareness one community at a time.
Beyond just the open spaces and medical tents, the struggle against cholera finds its way into the darker corners of life, namely prisons. Here, the ICRC is not just watching as a passive observer but actively administering supplies—hygiene items and chlorine tablets—to those cooped up behind bars.
“Sudan’s turmoil spills over into Renk, making life unbearably hard for the most vulnerable. Toss a cholera outbreak into the mix, and what are we looking at? A ticking time bomb of human suffering,” confided Gillette with a grim sense of urgency. “Right now, we’re caught in a mad dash to marshal enough resources to offer a hand-up, not just a handout.”
The year 2024 has seen the ICRC as a beacon of hope in South Sudan, steadfastly delivering healthcare, emergency relief, and rehabilitation for those with disabilities. Their mission isn’t merely about survival but about restoring life’s tapestry, be it through mending infrastructures, reconnecting fractured families, or elevating the dignity of detainees by finding those missing threads that enrich our shared human experience.
Source: ICRC
Fancy yourself in need of more news or looking to pull at some humanitarian heartstrings? Look no further. Just dial up Cecilia Goin at the ICRC South Sudan at +211 912 360 023, or ping an email over to [email protected]. Equally, Eléonore Asomani, the ICRC’s spokesperson in Dakar, stands ready for your inquiries at +221 781 864 687 or via [email protected].
Report By Axadle
Edited by: Ali Musa
alimusa@axadletimes.com
Axadle international–Monitoring
