We offer our sincere congratulations to the winners, Nihon Hidankyō, a fellow grassroots movement, “for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again”
Our nomination is a recognition of more than ten thousand civilians who have volunteered in ERRs, the Sudanese people who have provided funds or received assistance, and the colleagues who have supported the network these last eighteen months. It honors the memory of more than fifty treasured volunteers who lost their lives serving our people. This nomination is also testament to the thousands who stood in solidarity with the rooms starting with our communities, the Sudanese diaspora, local and international NGOs, philanthropists, individuals around the word who donated their time, expertise and money, and numerous individuals who battled the systems within their institutions to be able to support mutual aid. But most of all it goes to the volunteer on the ground who woke up early today to provide breakfast for the community and opened their underfunded clinic and is busy healing.
The ERRs hope the nomination will shine a light on the power of solidarity movements around the world. In Sudan, ours brings in vital resources to meet humanitarian needs. We call on all parties to recognize the legitimacy of our humanitarian efforts and protect our volunteers and communities from the war’s horrors.
Sudan is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with over ten million people displaced and the threat of unimaginable famine. Humanitarian efforts are underfunded, and the traditional international aid system faces pernicious access constraints.
Sudan’s ERRs are youth-led, grassroots, first responder volunteers. Working across the country, often in the most conflict-affected areas, the ERRs are an essential lifeforce mitigating harm and delivering essential services as the only reliable responders across much of the country.
The nature of our work is decided in real time to respond directly to local needs. ERR volunteers cook daily hot meals in community kitchens, repair water infrastructure, distribute hygiene materials, purchase medical supplies and medications, support health facilities with operating costs and non-medical supplies, evacuate civilians and volunteers to safe zones, and much more. Despite our critical role, we continue to struggle to access the funding and resources we require to meet the needs of our communities and call on donors to ensure we can fulfill our work.
ERRs and mutual aid empower Sudan’s citizens to lead. Doing so reinforces the country’s vital social fabric and keeps the hope of a better and more peaceful future alive.
As the news was announced, volunteers in the few pockets of the country with reliable connection followed from these community kitchens, youth education projects, and women’s spaces, feeling seen and heard in an often forgotten crisis. They sang together with pride– recognized for the most human act–coming together to help each other during war.
While mutual aid is common worldwide, the ERRs are unique in scale and organization. Over 700 ERRs are operational in Sudan and have a central organization that allows them to access funding and report on their work. They truly provide a model for collaborative solidarity-based mutual aid in future crises, which could reshape the humanitarian system at a time of unprecedented crisis globally.