The apps that aid solidarity among Sudanese

KHARTOUM – June 3, 2023

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Despite more than two months of suffering, the war has highlighted the great solidarity amongst Sudanese people through countless initiatives aimed at mitigating the humanitarian catastrophe and helping displaced people, Sudanese writer Mohamed Jami wrote for Noon Post. As part of these efforts, new online applications were developed.

The bloody war that broke out in Sudan on April 15 caused a humanitarian catastrophe and turned multiple cities into an open war zone “in which all violations are practised, from indiscriminate shelling and destruction to looting, rape, and arson,” Jami wrote in a piece for Arab news outlet Noon Post.

“Most of these violations involved Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), destroying the entire capital, along with large parts of the Darfur region.”

“As per usual in disasters and difficult situations, the anti-military protest movement known as the resistance committees assumed the biggest role in helping those affected by the war,” showcasing solidarity.

‘The resistance committees assumed the biggest role in helping those affected by the war’

The resistance committees monitor the situation on the ground and many of their members have formed medical emergency rooms in most neighbourhoods of the capital to treat injuries and provide other first aid.

Other members are active by providing humanitarian assistance and by conducting night patrols to secure houses abandoned by their owners or tenants.

“Although the committees continued to pay the price as their members were targeted by the army and the RSF militia,” the writer interested in African affairs wrote.

“In addition to the resistance committees, there are other categories of volunteers who have worked and continue to work actively to mitigate the effects of the war, with hundreds of young people of both sexes working on social media to coordinate food aid and provide medicine to stranded patients.”

“Just as the current war in Khartoum has shown the brutality of the fighters, especially the RSF and their supporters, it has also shown the solidarity for which the Sudanese people are known.”

‘Just as the current war in Khartoum has shown the brutality of the fighters, […] it has also shown the solidarity for which the Sudanese people are known’

“Everyone is seeking in his own way to join the ranks of volunteers to mitigate the effects of the bloody war. The problem is that people’s resilience is diminishing over time, and even many who were well-off are gradually running out of savings due to the systematic destruction, widespread looting, and paralysis that has plagued life in Khartoum.”

Apps

Application programmers, also from abroad, have joined these ranks of volunteers. As an extension of the volunteer efforts, Sudanese developers have created and launched online apps that aim to assist volunteers and those in need of help, for example through spreading information or facilitating purchases of essential goods. A list of digital initiatives can be found here.

Data analyst Ahmed El Effendi describes these initiatives as a “light in the middle of darkness” at a time when most banks have closed, factories are idle, and most electronic payment methods have been completely disabled.

“I hope we will see more technical solutions, especially with regard to banks and electronic payment,” he added.

Here are the most prominent of these applications:

Salamat Sudan: Salamat Sudan (Sudan greetings) was designed by Sudanese software specialist El Tayeb Hasan El Sheikh to provide accessible information on basic services and safety issues. The application also receives and publishes messages about missing people, enforced disappearances, and stolen property, including cars.

Through the application, it is possible to announce when you have something to offer or are in need of something and filter such calls according to the category, such as food, medicines, doctor support, transportation, and other aspects.

The designer of the application explained to Noon Post that people were struggling to access basic services such as food, medicines, and transportation, and he saw many individual initiatives by volunteers but noticed that grouping these initiatives and efforts in one platform was a major challenge.

As an application developer, he felt that he had a responsibility to contribute to alleviating the humanitarian situation by grouping initiatives in one place.

The Salamat Sudan application also allows users to report sexual violence and assault, in cooperation with the Combating Violence against Women and Children Unit [of the Ministry of Social Affairs], while ensuring confidentiality and privacy for victims.

The application is available for free in the Google Play Store and Apple Store.

Doctor: The Doctor application provides free medical consultations. Users can request a medical consultation/advice, to which doctors can respond. The app developers say that they have verified that all the doctors are qualified and reliable doctors.

They have reportedly managed to attract general practitioners (GPs), specialists in family medicine and paediatrics, and dentists. They are seeking to recruit more specialists in the remaining fields.

To facilitate easy use, they have provided a similar service through Facebook, which means that the user can message doctors via messenger and add pictures of medication or previous medical reports.

This application can be found in the Google Play Store.

Mersalek: The Mersalek (your messenger or your message) application is the Sudanese version of the Saudi Arabian Mersol application and it is used for the sale, purchase, and delivery of products.

The application allows customers find products and communicate with sellers to buy or order the delivery of products from stores, restaurants, or different pharmacies, or even deliver any item from one place to another and track the delivery process electronically.

Recently, the programmers of Mersalek launched the feature of sending distress calls for essential goods without any costs to users: “For distress requests, you can use the application and write the details of your needs so that others can reach you. We are all together to mitigate the crisis, with the permission of the generous.”

The application is available in the Google Play Store and Apple Store.

Balagh: The E-Sudani Balagh (report) application is “dedicated to receiving reports from civilians about the current situation” and is used to publish information on the security situation. It updates a map of the sites of clashes and dangerous places to warn civilians against going there and allows users to document events and scenes of destruction, vandalism, and war crimes.

The app also serves to let people know what services are available where, and which people are in need of support in their area.

When you use the Balagh app, all services and aid requests in your area appear, together with alerts and clarifications of the situation in the area and the streets leading to the selected service or request.

This application can also be found in the Google Play Store.