Displaced Sudanese return home to daunting challenges amid ongoing war

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00:00Jamal Ahmed was displaced for two years.

00:10The 70-year-old fled with his family to Egypt after the war broke out in Khartoum in April

00:162023.

00:17He returned after the military recaptured the capital from the paramilitary rapid support

00:22forces.

00:23And while he got a shock at what he saw, Jamal still says he wouldn't want to be anywhere

00:28else.

00:29I returned from Egypt two weeks ago.

00:32I found my house looted.

00:33I found the neighborhood sick and in despair.

00:36There's no power or water now and it's difficult to get basic services.

00:40But I decided to return home to at least die here.

00:43Nowhere is like your home.

00:45Since the war started, more than 12 million Sudanese have been forcibly displaced.

00:50The largest such crisis in the world, according to the UN.

00:55Jamal is one of millions of people who are now hoping to rebuild their lives.

00:59Back in Sudan.

01:01At the end of July, the total number of people who sought refuge abroad but who have now

01:07returned to Sudan is an estimated 1.5 million.

01:10However, getting home is only part of the challenge.

01:15Many believe the hard work begins now.

01:17The fighting continues elsewhere.

01:20The economy has been devastated and the humanitarian crisis continues.

01:24We need to start from scratch.

01:28The youth who work abroad helped in installing a solar energy system to help restore water

01:33and power.

01:34They are helping with the health crisis as well by sending money and medication.

01:38People are doing everything by themselves and with their own money amid all the challenges.

01:42Many of the returnees have come back with nothing and need financial or other support

01:48to get going again.

01:49And now people are starting to return on top of that.

01:54So it is going to take time.

01:56It's going to take resources and it's going to take a lot of hard work to help the city

02:02get back on its feet again.

02:05Since reestablishing our presence in Khartoum, including opening this office just three months

02:11ago, WFP has scaled up our operations significantly.

02:15Between May and June, we managed to scale up to 1 million people who were reaching through

02:22the range of activities that I've highlighted.

02:26Community kitchens, general food distributions, nutrition programs for mothers and children.

02:35Those people like Jamal, who do return home, have to confront a conflict that is intensifying

02:41in Khartoum, where attacks on power and water infrastructure continue.

02:45The spread of diseases like malaria and dengue fever and their hometowns and cities that have

02:51been destroyed.

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