She was speaking after opening a new United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) women’s friendly space at Gorom refugee settlement in South Sudan on Friday.
“Sexual violence and rape are systematically used as a weapon of war. The women I just spoke to suffered the worst – they had to watch their daughters being raped in front of their eyes, they lost their children while fleeing. And then they arrived here in South Sudan and urgently need humanitarian support, water, food, but, above all, what everyone says above all, medical care,” said Baerbock.
While meeting South Sudan President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar, Baerbock urged the two leaders to renounce violence in the electoral process and stressed the need for free, fair and peaceful elections in the country.
She emphasized the need for progress in the implementation of the Revitalized Peace Agreement, greater transparency in the management of public finances, increased investment in basic services by the transitional government and the facilitation of safe and unhindered humanitarian access in South Sudan.
Baerbock, who visited South Sudan and Kenya as part of her visit to East Africa, welcomed regional efforts to bring about an end to the conflict in Sudan and highlighted Germany’s support for increased pressure on the conflict parties to agree to serious ceasefire negotiations at the highest level and pave the way for a political process with civilian actors, among them women and youth, at its core.
“Even though other crises in the world are currently dominating the international agenda, particularly the situation in the Middle East, not a day goes by in Sudan, in South Sudan without thousands of people suffering massively. We are witnessing a terrible civil war in Sudan with hundreds of thousands of victims,” she stated.
The German official also expressed concerns over the influx of 1,500 refugees from Sudan to South Sudan every day, saying the camps are already overcrowded.
She visited a camp hosting 12,000 refugees, yet designed for only 2,000 people.
“In total, over 500,000 people have fled Sudan in recent months, especially women and children. These hundreds of thousands of women and children cross deserts, cover distances on foot that one can hardly walk, with next to nothing on their bodies, but many with incredible wounds, physical and mental wounds. Because the war in Sudan is, above all, a war against women,” stressed Baerbock.
She, however, pledged Germany’s continued support for those in need of aid.
“Germany is doing this as the second largest donor and I appeal in particular to the states here in the region, to the Gulf states, not to turn a blind eye to this humanitarian suffering, but to massively increase support for women and children here.
The 2024 Humanitarian Response estimates 9 million people will need humanitarian aid in South Sudan, including more than 1.6 million children under 5 years old at risk of acute malnutrition.
