♦ Sudan: This week’s news in brief ♦

A compact digest of the past week's most-read highlights, from the heart of Sudan. Subscribe to receive this digest weekly in your inbox.

5 injured as RSF shoot protesters in gold mining conflict in eastern Sudan

March 25 – 2022 HAYA / PORT SUDAN Five people were wounded when the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shot at protesters from the Fatah El Naga area in Haya locality, Red Sea state, on Wednesday. The people were protesting the arrival of a gold mining company with support from the RSF on disputed land.

The Resistance Committees explained that these companies are 'plundering resources and terrorizing citizens' and noted that the land occupied by the company is subject to a tribal dispute that has not yet been resolved. Well-informed sources from the Haya locality told Radio Dabanga that the company in question came from Khartoum and imposed its presence by force with the help of the RSF 'in a clear violation of all state and local procedures'.

North Darfur Wali: ‘Climate change droughts feeding conflicts over water’

March 23 – 2022 EL FASHER / NYALA The Acting Wali (Governor) of North Darfur, Hafez Bakheet, has warned of the negative effects of climate changes that have occurred in the states of Darfur in recent decades. He said that one of the most prominent of these climatic changes is the lack of rainfall, which led to a significant decline in surface water reserves and the outbreak of ongoing conflicts over water resources.

In South Darfur, a workshop was held on 'women’s resilience in the face of climate change' at the Centre for Peace and Development Studies at Nyala University, with a special focus on the position of women in relation to conflicts, peace, and security. The Ministry of Water and Irrigation warned that Khartoum might become uninhabitable due to the unsustainable use of water resources in the face of climate change.

UNITAMS head tells UNSC: ‘Time is not on Sudan’s side’
March 29 – 2022 NEW YORK The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General (STSG) for Sudan and head of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes, briefed the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Sudan’s deteriorating economic, humanitarian, and security situation.

World Press Photo Africa winner: ‘This is a victory for all Sudanese’
March 28 – 2022 KHARTOUM Sudanese photojournalist Faiz Abubakr Mohamed, who was named as the winner in the ‘singles’ category for Africa, at the regional stage of the prestigious 2022 World Press Photo Contest last week, says that he considers his unexpected win – a dramatic picture taken during the Sudan Uprising – as a victory for all Sudanese people.

Mass marches met by more deadly violence in Sudan capital
March 28 – 2022 KHARTOUM / BAHRI / OMDURMAN The main and secondary streets of the three main cities of Khartoum state, saw mass protests again on Saturday and Sunday as part of the peaceful revolutionary escalation to resist the coup announced by the coordination of the Resistance Committees in the Sudan capital for the last week of March.

Deadly conflict over a water project in Kassala and violent robbery by militiamen in Darfur
March 25 – 2022 KASSALA / SARAF OMRA Two people were killed and seven others were wounded in a tribal conflict over a water project in Kassala State on Wednesday. In North Darfur, militiamen violently robbed a man of his rickshaw.

Sudan's 90th anti-coup protester killed by security forces in new Marches of the Millions
March 25 – 2022 KHARTOUM / KHARTOUM NORTH / OMDURMAN / WAD MADANI / EL GEDAREF Mohammed Abdellatif, 28 years old, was killed with a shotgun as he was shot at close range in the chest, abdomen, and neck by the joint security forces in Wad Madani during the March 24 Marches of the Millions, bringing the total number of martyrs since the October 25 military coup to 90.

UN WFP convoy drivers robbed in North Darfur
March 24 – 2022 KABKABIYA / SORTONY The drivers of two lorries of commercial transporters carrying goods for the UN World Food Programme (WFP) were stopped and robbed by armed men on motorcycles in North Darfur on Saturday. The WFP has confirmed that, after being robbed of their valuables, the drivers were left to proceed and there was no looting of any WFP commodities.

Sudan photographer World Press Photo 2022 regional winner for Africa
March 24 – 2022 AMSTERDAM Sudanese photographer Faiz Abubakr Mohamed has been named as the winner in the ‘singles’ category for Africa, at the regional stage of the prestigious 2022 World Press Photo Contest. Mohamed’s winning picture shows a woman protestor hurling a teargas cannister back at riot police during the pro-democracy protests in 2021.

Economist: ‘US Dollar could soon cost more than 1,000 Sudanese Pounds’
March 24 – 2022 KHARTOUM As the value of the Sudanese Pound (SDG) continues its unprecedented downward spiral against the US Dollar and other major international currencies, a prominent economic analyst has predicted that the price of 1USD could rise above SDG1,000.

UN agencies: Food crisis looming for 18 million in Sudan
March 23 – 2022 KHARTOUM A worsening food crisis is looming in Sudan amid the economic downturn, displacement, and ruined crops. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) caution that the combined effects of conflict, economic crisis, and poor harvests are significantly affecting people’s access to food and will likely double the number of people facing acute hunger in Sudan to more than 18 million people by September 2022.