Bristol students raise funds for the humanitarian crisis in Sudan

By Milan Perera, News Writer

Sudaneses students at the University of Bristol organised a bake sale to raise funds for the victims of the current humanitarian crisis in their home country.

The event was organised by the Sudanese students at the university in collaboration with the University of Bristol Islamic Society (Brisoc) as the unprecedented emergency that engulfed the Northeast African nation shows no sign of resolution in the days to come.

The bake sale was held on Friday, May 5, in front of the Senate House on Woodland Road between 2.00pm to 5.00pm. The stall featured homemade delicacies such as tiramisu, chocolate cake, doughnuts, flapjacks and many other sweet meats.

A humanitarian crisis of unprecedented magnitude ensued when clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted on 15 April 2023.

According to United Nation’s (UN) report, 334,000 people are estimated to have been internally displaced, and over 120,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries.

Speaking to Epigram, Maryam Noura, a second-year law student from Sudan highlighted the importance of the fundraiser:

‘We are currently raising money for Sudan in collaboration with Brisoc. And we are doing a bake sale. This money will go in to the hospitals in Sudan which are currently suffering because they’ve been bombed. A lot of hospitals are understaffed and underfunded at the moment. And many people have had to leave hospitals mid-treatment because of the situation in the last two weeks.’

Since the fighting began between SAF and RSF, at least 550 people have been killed and over 4,900 injured according to the Federal Ministry of Health (MOH). This includes at least 190 children killed and another 1,700 injured in 11 days, between 15 and 25 April.

International aid organisations such as UNICEF and UN World Food Programme (WFP) are appealing to people around the world to donate to ease the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.