00:00Now moving on as the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East drag on,
00:04this April marks three years since Sudan's civil war broke out
00:08when a power struggle began between two branches of its armed forces.
00:12For the view from the ground, we spoke to Kristen Davis, the UNHCR ambassador,
00:16and the American actress best known for her role as Charlotte in Sex and the City.
00:21She recently visited the East African country.
00:23With millions on the move and a conflict at risk of spreading,
00:27Kristen Davis started by telling us not to forget about one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent years.
00:33For some reason, media does not seem to want to cover it,
00:36which I find really interesting and I can't explain why.
00:38But I do know that I work with UNHCR, I'm a goodwill ambassador,
00:43and I knew that the war was ongoing and that many, many people have been displaced.
00:48Twelve million people have been displaced, which is a stunning number,
00:52especially because it isn't even something that's being reported on.
00:55So we just went a few weeks back.
00:58I went to South Sudan because I wanted to see for myself what was happening.
01:02Every time that I have gone on a trip to a refugee camp or a refugee area where people are
01:06crossing from conflicts,
01:08like really life or death level conflict,
01:12it's always upsetting, but at the same time it's also inspiring because the people are so strong.
01:16And in this situation, it's largely women and children and a lot of very, very young children,
01:22and they've had to travel far distances with very, very dangerous situations.
01:27So when they cross the border, they're relieved, but they're also, you know, stressed.
01:31They don't know where they're going to go.
01:33They don't know what they're going to do.
01:34They need to find a safe place for their children, just like you or I would feel.
01:38Obviously, they did nothing wrong to make them be a refugee.
01:41They're just trying to keep their family alive.
01:44And many of them told me stories of their husbands being taken out of the house and shot in front
01:48of them.
01:49And do they feel alone?
01:50Do they feel like the international community has forgotten about them?
01:52I don't think so.
01:53No, I don't think so, because UNHCR is there.
01:56We are there.
01:56That is our mandate, to be there for refugees, for people who are displaced.
02:01And we will do everything in our power to be there and to give them life-saving aid right away
02:06in an emergency.
02:08Now, there have been funding cuts, which is pretty upsetting.
02:11I could tell that that was your next question.
02:13This was the first trip that I had made since the funding cuts.
02:16So that was upsetting and depressing also because I've never been in a situation
02:22where we were not able to give them a hot food, a hot meal, when they have originally arrived to
02:28the camps.
02:30That was kind of upsetting.
02:31We had the high-protein biscuits that we were giving to children five and under and to pregnant women.
02:38But I haven't ever been in a situation where we couldn't say,
02:41here's your water, here's your tent, here's your hot meal.
02:44It was just really so deeply troubling after everything that they've been through,
02:50after the violence that they've been through, that we can't feed them a hot meal.
02:54But what is the future for these people?
02:56You described millions of people on the move, millions of people displaced.
02:59Where will these people go?
03:00Obviously, I'm sure they just want to go home.
03:02They do want to go home.
03:03And, I mean, one can only hope that some larger forces will intervene that will bring peace
03:09or at least encourage the players to put down their arms and stop the fighting.
03:16The region has obviously been through many, many, many struggles in the past,
03:22which I feel like in some ways influences the fact that people aren't talking about it in the media.
03:27I think there's some level of fatigue, which is unfortunate because it's still people's lives.
03:33You know, every single country there, and they're very poor countries,
03:36but every single country is making a huge effort to accommodate the people
03:40and give them the services that they can give them.
03:43They're very poor countries, again.
03:45You know, so you don't think about necessarily that that's where refugees are,
03:50but largely that I think 70 percent of refugees are in really poor countries
03:54and they never make it to Europe or the United States.
03:57You know, most people, I think, have the misperception that people are just coming freely.
04:02That's so not the case.
04:03I think it's one percent get resettled.
04:05So they're mostly in the poor neighboring countries who can be very, very welcoming,
04:11which is hugely important.
04:13You know, they may not have a huge amount of funding for them,
04:16but the warmth of the welcome is powerful.
04:20I think they just want to go home at this point.
04:22And it's so many people that it's hard to even imagine, you know,
04:26how they will be resettled into these new countries that they're in.
04:29But I do think everyone's making a huge effort for that to be a positive experience for them.
04:33And meanwhile, Kristen, the war and the U.S.-Israel war on Iran,
04:37it's entering its second month.
04:38It's turned the whole world upside down.
04:41Yeah.
04:42Could we be in this for the long haul, you think?
04:43I hope not.
04:44I hope not.
04:45I really hope not.
04:47It's obviously so deeply, deeply upsetting.
04:50And I was just talking to my UNHCR colleagues
04:54and over a million people have been displaced in Lebanon already.
04:58And it's just begun.
05:00So it's deeply, deeply disturbing.
05:02And I hope that people can, you know, find a way to de-escalate.
05:10I mean, this is what we always hoped for.
05:12No one wants war.
05:13And what would your final message of hope be to our viewers
05:15who are tuning in today feeling very overwhelmed and stressed about the state of the world?
05:20The world is chaotic right now.
05:21I fully get that.
05:22But I feel that in terms of refugees and displaced people,
05:26empathy is more powerful in some ways even than funds, you know?
05:32Like understanding that they did not cause this, that they, the people who are displaced are not at fault.
05:39Nothing they did wrong happened that made them be displaced, right?
05:42Just having that empathy.
05:43And all of us know someone who's a refugee or the child of a refugee.
05:47You know, there's people around you that you may not even realize are refugees.
05:51And having some understanding of what they've been through,
05:55being able to maybe just say a kind word to them.
05:58There's so many tiny things you can do that improve the world and that also make you feel better.
06:02I find that for myself.
06:04You know, it's a way for you to feel like, okay, I can make a positive difference in my little
06:09world right now.
06:10And that's something.
06:12Okay.
06:12Kristen Davis, thank you so much.
06:14It's so lovely to have you with us.
06:15Thank you for having me.
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