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OVERVIEW
The Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC) identified 53 incidents of violence against or obstruction of health care in Sudan in 2022, a similar number to 52 in 2021. In these incidents, 11 health workers were killed and 22 others injured, and hospitals were raided or forcibly entered at least 22 times, impacting health care providers’ ability to maintain safe staffing levels and patient care. Thirty-four incidents were related to the ongoing political protests following the October 2021 military coup. The remaining 19 occurred in the context of the long-standing armed conflicts in Darfur and South Kordofan states. This factsheet is based on the dataset 2022 SHCC Health Care Sudan Data, which is available for download on the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX).
THE CONTEXT
Health workers and facilities continued to be affected by political violence in 2022 following the military coup in October 2021, with incidents of political violence increasing by 69% compared to 2021.1 Intercommunal conflict continued to affect health workers in the Kordofan and Darfur regions. In South Kordofan state, tribal conflict resulted in the displacement of an estimated 40,000 people, including 6,000 families, while armed groups’ attacks on traders and trucks increased. Humanitarian access also declined in areas under the control of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) following the military coup in October 2021 and subsequent reports of military movements in readiness for any aggression. The SPLM-N was especially suspicious of individuals entering areas under its control from government-held territory, with three male vaccination workers and two females who had been authorized to enter the area by the transitional government being kidnapped by SPLM-N members in March.2 Starting in April, in West Darfur state hundreds of civilians were killed, their homes burned, and thousands more displaced in attacks by armed Arab tribesmen. The violence was especially high in Kre town and Kulbus district. In one case of intercommunal violence in late April and early May in and around Kreinik town, health care staff were forced to flee for safety and health care providers reduced services after the killings of health workers and the damaging and looting of health facilities during the violence.