Attachments
Authors:
Samantha K. Olson, Maysoon Dahab, Melissa Parker
Corporate Author:
Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform
Published:
2024
The civil war in the Republic of Sudan, which began in April 2023, has fuelled and exacerbated an already severe humanitarian crisis. As of September 2024, over 25 million people – half the country’s population – need assistance. In response, grassroots movements have emerged, drawing on past experiences of collective mobilisation. Volunteer networks, known as Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs), in which the ‘room’ refers to the online group chats where they were originally conceived and planned, are one example.
This brief is based on the first case study of ERRs,1 which was conducted between June and August 2024. Building on interviews with volunteers, the case study highlights the perspectives of ERR volunteers and details the emergence, growth, workflows and partnerships of ERRs. The brief further draws on published research exploring the complexities of the humanitarian response in Sudan and the concept of mutual aid, including ERRs.
The aim of the brief is to describe key considerations for understanding ERRs and how they might be supported. The brief also explores the implications of meaningful and locally impactful partnerships with national and international humanitarian and development actors (IHDAs), even amidst complex humanitarian dynamics and acute conflict. The brief has been written for all actors following or engaged in the Sudan response – local, national and international.
Key considerations
Understanding ERRs and local actors
- Recognise the ethos underpinning ERRs. There are many mechanisms of social solidarity that have a long history in Sudan, including ‘nafeer’ –نفير. Before engaging in partnership with local actors, IHDAs should ensure they understand these underpinnings and how they inform local actors’ responses.
- Acknowledge differences between ERRs which reflect the diversity of needs across the country. Needs, expertise and contextual variations guide the work done by ERRs. It is important not to generalise the working modalities and motivations from one ERR to another, but rather to understand the unique experiences and roles of each ERR.
- Acknowledge the wider network of solidarity actors that have come together to support locally led responses by Sudanese people for themselves. This includes informal networks, diaspora groups and national non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who raise awareness and funding or engage in collaborative service delivery. These groups should not be arranged hierarchically but rather recognised for their unique responses and how they might operate synergistically.
Supporting ERRs and local actors in the short to medium term
- IHDAs, ERRs and other solidarity actors could mount a collaborative and scaled response in Sudan, but there will need to be a change to current approaches. The larger international humanitarian and development system appears to be interested in engagement with ERRs but is ill-suited for it. So far, engagement has been structured in a way that places unequal workload and risk on ERR volunteers and consequently slows or prevents the delivery of aid. To reach inaccessible areas of the country, collaborative work is needed.
- Foster equitable partnerships recognising the current levels of trust and capacity to respond (during the conflict and well beyond) for both the locally led and international aid responses. For IHDAs, such as UN agencies, international NGOs and donor organisations, this means moving beyond transactional relationships. Instead, IHDAs should foster partnerships grounded in mutual respect, shared values and a commitment to having local actors lead. IHDAs’ detailed examination of local organisations’ processes and approaches does not promote an environment of two-way trust and stifles robust partnerships, which in turn can affect a timely and scaled response.
- **Understand the immense physical and psychological risk ERR volunteers face.**Recognising these volunteers as aid workers, advocating for their safety and providing them with support similar to that provided to people working for international aid actors is paramount to show them respect as well as enable their continued response.
- Learn from and support locally designed mechanisms of governance and coordination to streamline and improve meaningful collaboration with local actors. For example, engage with ERRs through their systems as this not only enables leadership growth, but it also ensures the relevance and sustainability of any provided support mechanisms.
Broader, long-term benefits of supporting ERRs and local actors
- If ERRs and IHDAs overcome the challenges of working together, this could enable a new era of localisation in Sudan. Building sustainably minded, context-tailored and ethical partnerships between ERRs and IHDAs is an opportunity to set precedence for how mutual aid in Sudan, and elsewhere, can be meaningfully supported.
- Push for a holistic response to the war and the growing humanitarian needs. The work of grassroots groups needs to be appreciated and supported, yet the importance of robust assistance in a country facing famine cannot go unheeded. Learning from previous responses should be emphasised.
- Ongoing documentation, analysis and learning from grassroots responses like the ERRs is essential. Learning from this response and its variation by context builds an evidence base for future localised responses in war-affected settings.
Humanitarian action in an ongoing war
The current war in Sudan was ignited by a power struggle between two armies – the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). This ongoing struggle for power sustains the conflict at the expense of civilian lives.
Before the war, Sudan already struggled with a high burden of disease, food insecurity and a neglected displacement crisis. These struggles have been amplified by the conflict and with catastrophic effects. The health system has been weakened and many facilities have shut down. High levels of food insecurity are faced by half the country, and current data suggest that more than 10.3 million people – every fifth person – has been displaced. Edem Wosornu, the Operations and Advocacy Division Director at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), referred to Sudan as ‘one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory’.
Media coverage, political will and funding all remain low.4 In April 2024, donors came together in Paris in an effort to raise the USD 2.7 billion of funds that the UN estimated is required to address the unfolding crisis. While pledges were made, a current estimation of the assembled funding suggests it is just 41% of what is needed.