As teh conflict in Sudan stretches into its 25th month, the well-being of women is increasingly at risk. The collapse of healthcare infrastructure, compounded by dwindling aid, has created a dire situation for reproductive and sexual health services.

The lack of funding is crippling essential services, leaving countless women without the care they desperately need. The consequences are far-reaching,impacting not only individual lives but also the stability of communities.

Funding Shortfall Threatens Vital Services

The humanitarian response plan for Sudan, requiring $4.8 billion to assist 20.9 million people, is severely underfunded. This financial strain threatens to halt sexual and reproductive health services in 15 of Sudan’s 18 states.

• 1.2 million women of childbearing age are at risk.
• 120,000 pregnant women face increased dangers.
• 24,000 survivors of sexual violence are left without support.

Grim Realities on the Ground

The Health Institution and the Health group have issued stark warnings about the consequences of reduced funding. Due to the reduction in funding,the provision of sexual and reproductive health services in 15 states has become at risk, according to a joint report.

The report further highlights the cascading effects of the funding freeze:

• Direct impact on 13 partners.
• Direct impact on 1.5 million people.
• Indirect impact on 5 million people.
• Gradual cessation of support to 335 health facilities.

Mobile clinics are suspending operations, and basic healthcare facilities are closing, including those in hard-to-reach areas and refugee camps like Tennida in Gedaref.

Urgent Calls for Intervention

Sudan’s Minister of Health, Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim, emphasized the critical need for intervention. The reproductive health situation and mothers need interference considering the war and the attacks of the ‘Rapid Support Forces’, so a strategic plan for 2025 has been developed, requires more than 200 million dollars to be monitored by the goverment of Sudan, partners and donors, he stated.

Minister Ibrahim also noted the high maternal mortality rate, stating that the mothers’ average rate reached 295 per 100,000 births, so this segment needs special care. Efforts are underway to coordinate with global health organizations and donors to reduce maternal deaths.

Reproductive Health: More Than Just Family Planning

The World Health Organization defines reproductive health as encompassing the healthcare of women in childbearing age, including treatment, food, and care before and after pregnancy. It extends beyond family planning to include comprehensive well-being.

Voices from the Field

Iman Mahjoub, a reproductive health specialist, described the devastating impact of the conflict. The widening of the war and its expansion in several Sudanese states has paralyzed the capabilities of organizations that support sexual and reproductive health services, especially in light of the growing need for medical assistants and the necessity of the presence of mobile clinics in the areas of armed conflict and the gatherings of the displaced, she explained.

Mahjoub added, With the passage of days the conditions of girls and women began to get worse consequently of deprivation of thier original rights in receiving reproductive health services and medical and psychological support, which led to deaths in several cities and regions in the country.

She further noted the destruction of healthcare facilities and hospitals in conflict zones, exacerbating the crisis. Health care facilities and hospitals in the areas of armed conflict were destroyed and bombed, while some of them were closed consequently of the scarcity of medicines and insecurity due to the clashes that erupt from time to time.

The most affected facilities are often shelters for displaced persons, exposing thousands of girls and women to acute shortages of medical personnel and supplies.

Dire Consequences and Limited Options

Majdi Younis, a gynecologist and obstetric specialist, highlighted the tragic outcomes. There are deaths that occurred to pregnant women and girls consequently of their exposure to infections,high blood pressure and severe bleeding,and the inability to save them due to the lack of health care, he said.

The scarcity of hospitals and health centers has severely impacted reproductive health,with pregnancy risk rates reaching 15% and anemia affecting approximately 20% of pregnant women. The little number of hospitals and health centers was reflected in the reality of reproductive health for women in more than 10 Sudanese states, as well as the risk rate of pregnancy reached 15 percent among the total pregnant women, in addition to the suffering of about 20 percent of anemia during and after pregnancy, Younis explained.

These conditions have led some women to avoid pregnancy or resort to family planning methods. These indicators pushed some women in Sudan to avoid pregnancy so that they do not have health crises that lead to death, in addition to dozens of resorting to the use of family planning methods in order to spit between pregnancy and the other, Younis added.

Many women are forced to give birth in unsanitary conditions, increasing the risk of complications and sepsis. Several women are forced to give birth in unhealthy conditions, so this situation increases the risk of complications and “stink”, which is the threat of life due to the destruction of the body for its tissue when it responds to infection and the inability of the members to perform its functions properly and naturally.

Exacerbation of Existing Challenges

Tiba Bakhit, director of reproductive health in South Darfur, described the war’s devastating impact on the Ministry of Health. The war affected the capabilities of the Ministry of Health because of the burning, looting and looting of its facilities, she stated.

Before the war, the ministry operated 164 health facilities providing healthcare for pregnant women. that number has dwindled to just 44. Rural hospitals focused on motherhood and childhood have decreased from 14 to only seven, with limited capabilities.

Surveys conducted in displacement camps have revealed an increase in maternal deaths,but ongoing fighting and lack of access have hindered comprehensive assessments.