UNFPA / SUDAN MATERNITY SERVICES

As the war enters its third year, Sudan is now the largest and most devastating humanitarian crisis in the world. More than 12 million people have been displaced—over half of them women and children. Disease outbreaks and hunger are engulfing the country as it slides into famine. Humanitarian access remains restricted and funding for the humanitarian response is woefully inadequate. Time is running out to prevent the loss of tens of thousands of lives.

The health system has not been spared by the fighting. Fewer than a quarter of health facilities in the worst-affected areas are operating – the rest have been destroyed, severely damaged or abandoned. Life-saving medicines are in short supply and many medical staff have been displaced due to the insecurity.

Pregnancy and childbirth have become deadly threats for an estimated 272,000 women, exacerbated by malnutrition which is increasing the risks of life-threatening complications. Many women are forced to give birth without skilled health workers, clean supplies or even shelter. Some are forced to walk for hours or even days just to reach the nearest functioning health centre. Others have given birth on the roadside or died on their way.

Despite risks to their own safety, midwives have played a heroic role in Sudan since war broke out in April 2023. They have put their own lives in danger to save hundreds of thousands of mothers and newborns by providing maternity services at home and in the community. Hawaa Ismael, a midwife at the UNFPA-supported Kararai Health Centre in Khartoum, recognises the risks she took to reach women in their homes in the early days of the conflict when the tranquillity of Khartoum was shattered.

Despite movement restrictions, she delivered up to four babies a day. It was exhausting, she says, but she considered it her duty and is proud of what she has done.

Throughout the war, UNFPA has worked with midwives, health workers and outreach teams, providing life-saving maternal health medicines and equipment to keep health services going. Over 750,000 people have been reached with reproductive health and protection services, including through 71 mobile health teams and 64 women’s and girls’ safe spaces. This is despite tremendous logistical challenges.

Recent funding cuts, however, are jeopardizing progress, posing a catastrophic blow to an already underfunded humanitarian response operation. Funding cuts to UNFPA in Sudan will leave 475,000 women in Sudan and neighbouring countries without maternal health or gender-based violence prevention and response services.