The armed parties in Sudan have chosen to resolve their differences by force of arms, which was expected, even if everyone wished otherwise.

As usual in all wars, the only loser is the human being, whether an individual or a group. Since the outbreak of fighting on April 15, the population of Sudanese cities, especially Khartoum, has been suffering from a shortage of all the necessities of life.

With the disruption of the state’s agencies concerned with providing services (health, food, and security), there was no solution but for the community to support itself through numerous initiatives put forward by social actors, led by resistance committees and trade union groups.

New roles for grassroots

The formation of the grassroots groups preceded the outbreak of the December 2018 revolution by years, and it was they who had the most prominent share in its subsequent success. It was also the only guarantee that the coup by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo Hemedti against the transitional period on October 25, 2021, would not succeed.

The neighborhood's resistance committees were not content with simply resisting the coup, as they combined the political demands with the social needs of free education and health care, public safety, the army returning to barracks, and the dissolution of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Now, after the inevitable outbreak of war between the coup's partners (army & RSF), and with the societal arena devoid of those who play the role of the state, the grassroots had to fill this void.

Multitasking community initiatives

The most difficult thing that the people of Khartoum faced after the escalation of battles between the army and RSF since April 15 was the safe exit from the unsteady fighting sites.

“Our area became unsafe, so we had to move to neighborhoods south of Khartoum where we could find vehicles to take us out of the capital,” journalist Ahmed Ibrahim told Jusoor Post over the phone.

“I called people in my neighborhood resistance committee, and they told me that my family members and I had to prepare our situation and wait for a phone call from them. Hours later, I received a call from them, and they described to me the exact routes that I should take, and they stayed with me over the phone until I arrived safely in my new location,” he added.

What community initiatives accomplished in the health sector after the outbreak of the war was impressive. The health system in Sudan is generally very weak and has deteriorated since the start of the April 15 events. There is a shortage of healthcare personnel and a critical shortage of supplies, while over 70% of hospitals are closed so far, Dr. Khalid Elsheikh Ahmedana, medical coordinator for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Khartoum, said on May 8, according to the MSF website.

Since the start of the fighting, a number of resistance committees have announced medical and health initiatives, such as the initiative of the volunteers of Al Nou Hospital in Omdurman, which opened a room to give chemotherapy doses to cancer patients on May 10.

Resistance committee volunteers work to support community initiatives despite the security risks that beset them. On May 7, a force belong to the army arrested two members of the Bahri Neighborhoods Resistance Committees while they were returning in an ambulance they had been working in since April 25, after delivering medical staff to their home late at night, on the pretext of suspicion of their cooperation with the RSF, Dabanga Sudan reported.

A month after the outbreak of fighting in Sudan and the interruption of food supplies in the country, the World Food Program announced that 19 million people are expected to face food insecurity during the upcoming lean season, according to the UN.

It may be almost impossible for community initiatives to save Sudan from impending disaster; however, grassroots initiatives can work with international agencies in distributing aid. Thus, they guarantee two things: reducing the possibility of corruption by having this aid reach those in actual need, and not using humanitarian aid in the war between the conflicting parties.