Press Release
June 2, 2024 • 2 min read
GOAL Sudan Team has always provided significant services to Kutum Hospital and pleads for protection of humanitarian and health infrastructure.
Hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering in El Fashir, the capital city of Darfur, without basic supplies amid fears that nearby fighting will turn into a massively destructive battle for the city and there are increasing reports of indiscriminate shelling and airstrikes in the region. One of the reports this week was of an airstrike which hit Kutum hospital, 100kms from El Fashir, and which destroyed the hospital’s electrical system and damaged the maternity ward.
This is not the first time that humanitarian infrastructure has been affected by conflict, with multiple GOAL-supported facilities damaged and looted during the conflict, including the health facility in Kassab IDP camp in Kutum, as well as primary health facilities in Habila and Abukarshola areas of South Kordofan state.
GOAL has been working in Sudan since 1985, supporting conflict affected communities in Kutum since 2004. GOAL’s team in North Darfur has always had close links with the hospital in Kutum. Over the last year, our team has worked on the rehabilitation of the hospital’s water system and provided solar power for the system and worked on the rehabilitation of the hospital’s SC (Stabilisation Centre). GOAL refers children with SAM (Severe Acute Malnutrition) and associated medical complications from its primary healthcare facilities to the SC for specialised treatment.
Kutum hospital also hosts a vaccine storage facility for the locality and GOAL Team members regularly visit the hospital to collect vaccines for distribution to rural PHCs (Primary Health Centres). However there have been no vaccines in the locality since the last shipment last March because of the conflict. Overall, there is a severe shortage of critical medical supplies coming into Sudan, attacks and looting of vehicles transporting any available supplies and in some cases refusal by authorities to allow delivery of available medical supplies to intended destinations.
34 GOAL staff remain inside El Fashir but most have moved at least once to safer areas of the city as violence intensifies and civilians continue to be affected. GOAL is now preparing humanitarian response options to support the IDP communities inside El Fashir and is coordinating with other aid agencies to mount this response.
GOAL remains a neutral organization committed to principled humanitarian aid and continues to call on all parties to protect civilian, humanitarian and health infrastructure. #CeaseFireNow
