Médecins Sans Frontières - Aid Cuts - West Darfur

Unique Identifier Code / URN MSB251857

Date taken / Date Recorded 06/11/2025 1:28 PM

Country Sudan

Commissioning section MSF-SWITZERLAND

Photographer / videographer / producer Pierre-Yves Bernard

Copyright MSF

Usage Rights (MSF) MSF Fundraising, Social Media, MSF Publications

Formal Consent Copy available yes

Editor's rating ★★★ (F)

Video format h264 (Main) (avc1 / 0x31637661)

Duration 3m0s

Maximum Size 1080px × 1920px 424.17 MB

Additional Information / Shotlist 1
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For those not killed by bullets,
death often comes from disease,

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from outbreaks, or from the absence
of critical health care.

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00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:12,400
I'm Kenneth Lavelle,
the Director of Operations for MSF.

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I will explain to you how we've had
to adapt to the funding cuts,

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that are having a devastating impact
for the people in Sudan.

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When the war erupted in April 2023,

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it escalated into what has become
an almost complete

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ethnic cleansing of part
of the population in west Darfur.

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It's unfortunately a repeat
of trends that we have seen

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for more than two decades.

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With the near total collapse
of public health services

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and limited access
to secondary care,

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MSF prioritised the continuity
of life-saving support

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in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur.

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Our focus has been on paediatric care, nutrition

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and emergency services
for the most vulnerable populations.

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We identified another urgent gap, maternal care.

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Maternal mortality rates
had been alarmingly high,

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averaging more than one death
every month in 2025,

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00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:10,839
and there was almost no access
to safe delivery services.

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00:01:10,839 --> 00:01:16,360
Many women are forced to give birth
at home with traditional birth attendants

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who are often untrained
or they lack the proper equipment,

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putting both the mothers
and newborns at serious risk.

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The precarity of this situation
deteriorated further

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after the budget cuts were announced
by the US government and others.

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A key (international) humanitarian actor
(with whom we had a
maternity‑care agreement)

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lost their funding

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Maternal activities risked stopping overnight.

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We needed to find a way to fill the gap,

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so we established a partnership

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with the Sudanese Family
Planning Association,

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a national NGO supporting the
Ministry of Health Services in El Geneina.

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MSF provides financial support
to the SFPA

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so that they can continue
offering free maternal care

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for non-complicated deliveries
in the El Geneina hospital,

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leaving MSF to focus on the complicated
deliveries in the same hospital.

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Since June, together
with our local partner,

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we've assisted more
than 1,300 deliveries,

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meaning over a thousand mothers
and their newborns

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have received the safe care.

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We are now funding a local NGO
to fill this critical health gap,

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but it's not a question of the cost.

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It is about the lives at risk every day.

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By August, Sudan's health response

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had received only 24%
of the required funding.

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We repeat our call to donor states

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and those with political
influence to act now.

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It's time to step up,
put your pledges into action.

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For those not killed by bullets,
death often comes from disease,

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00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:52,360
from outbreaks, or from the absence
of critical health care.

MSF is 98% privately funded . In a time of uncertainty and a rapidly changing humanitarian landscape, our teams in El Geneina are working to build pragmatic partnerships with different actors to sustain essential health services.

Aid Cuts - West Darfur - ENGLISH

Aid Cuts - West Darfur - ENGLISH