Ms Siobhan Walsh:

To build on the point made by my colleague, Mr. Regan, the issue is that the scale of this crisis is still largely invisible. That is the major challenge we have. I will focus on the perspective of Goal workers and partners inside the front lines of this conflict. Goal has a long history of working in Sudan. We have been there since 1985. We have a team of more than 150 people who are primarily working in North Darfur and South Kordofan. Our work focuses on supporting conflict-affected populations. We focus on nutrition, health, water, sanitation, food security and livelihoods with women's empowerment and protection at the heart of everything we do.

I will give some practical examples of Goal’s work. We are operating 38 functional health clinics supporting more than 33,000 people, and providing nutrition services to combat malnutrition, which is a major problem, distributing seeds to 6,000 farmers in South Kordofan and every day delivering 4,000 l of water to IDPs alongside health clinics and sanitation efforts.

I speak about distributing water to 4,000 IDPs, understanding that we are doing so in between the bombardments. This is the reality that all of the agencies are facing.

What is clear from our team on the front line is that hunger and famine-like conditions are set to grow. This is evidenced by the number of children who are dying of malnutrition and the numbers showing up at the mobile health clinics. Before the war, seven or eight hospitals were open in Al-Fashir, serving a population of 1.5 million people. Today, one hospital is functioning. Prior to this, we were treating 100 young children with acute malnutrition every day in one of our clinics. Today, we are supporting more than 800 children with severe acute malnutrition in these clinics.

The impact on mothers and women cannot be overstated. Due to the lack of food in the markets and the lack of money and livelihoods, many of the mothers are hungry. They are witnessing their young children suffering and dying from malnutrition. Out of sheer desperation, mothers are resorting to prostitution to feed their children. The violence against women is a major crisis and it cannot be overstated. I am here not only as the CEO of GOAL but as the chair of the Irish Consortium on Gender Based Violence, which was established in 2005 as a response to the systematic sexual violence against women and girls in North Darfur. The stories that are shared by the members of our team are harrowing. Armed groups are coming into the displacement camps and raping mothers and daughters and forcing young girls into marriage. Last week's report from the UN called it a catastrophic impact for women and girls, with a twofold increase in gender-based violence. This is a shocking violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which commits the international community to protect women in conflict, especially from gender-based violence.

The food and livelihood crisis is further fuelling the conflict. What I mean by this is that countless mothers are reporting they are losing their sons to the conflict. The young men are joining the conflict because their families are on the brink of starvation and it provides some form of income for the families. The point is that the desperation of hunger is fuelling the conflict even more. As the conflict continues to grow, and it is growing, so is the problem of child soldiers. There is no end in sight. In addition to the two main warring factions, there are numerous armed groups impacting the safety and security of communities throughout Sudan and disrupting the humanitarian aid system.

Yet with all of this, I will speak to the power of humanitarian workers and local communities together kicking into action and collaborating. The risks are enormous for all humanitarian workers who have been to the forefront of this crisis, bearing witness and delivering life-saving services and food to very vulnerable communities. We must recognise the important role and courage of humanitarian workers. I also want to call out the incredible courage, power and resilience of women in these displacement camps. They are the main drivers of the creation of new innovations in solving problems and identifying gaps. For example, they have set up community kitchens to provide daily meals and provide health services. The point is that community kitchens speak to the important role women play in being agents of change in conflict.

The critical work of NGOs will go on as long as we have uninterrupted, unrestricted and sustained access to communities and humanitarian supplies but functioning humanitarian corridors are needed. What is happening in Sudan is horrifying. People are suffering and dying behind a veil. Ireland has an important role to play and our humanitarian leadership is more important than ever. We recognise the role the Tánaiste played in speaking at the UN General Assembly and his leadership is welcome. We need to keep sounding the alarm bells. If we ignore this crisis, the risk of the conflict further destabilising neighbouring countries is something we really have to pay attention to. A couple of weeks ago, I said at a Dóchas briefing that I believe we can all do more and I believe we all can.