Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. (-)

Germany’s Foreign Affairs Minister Annalena Baerbock on Sunday condemned the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war by Sudanese military factions as she met hundreds of women at a “crowded” Gorom Refugee Camp.

Baerbock jetted South Sudan on January 26, and held meetings with President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar on the peace process, upcoming elections and humanitarian crisis caused by Sudan conflict.

Berlin’s top diplomat then travelled to Gorom Refugee Settlement, about 20 kilometers west of Juba, which is home to about 12,000 refugees mainly from war-torn Sudan, and others from Ethiopia, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Speaking at the opening of a women’s friendly space there, Baerbock condemned “widespread” sexual and gender-based violence experienced by women affected by the conflict in Sudan.

“We are witnessing a terrible civil war in Sudan with hundreds of thousands of victims. Women and children cross deserts, cover distances on foot that one can hardly walk, with next to nothing on their bodies, but many with incredible physical and mental wounds,” she said, according to a press statement.

“Because the war in Sudan is, above all, a war against women. Sexual violence and rape are systematically used as a weapon of war. The women I just spoke to suffer the worst – they had to watch their daughters being raped in front of their eyes, they lost their children while fleeing.”

At least 500,000 people have fled Sudan to South Sudan since April 15, 2023, according to the UN humanitarian agency – UNOCHA.

This was after power wrangle between junta leader General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and Paramilitary RSF’s General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo plunged their country into vicious conflict.

The displaced people, mainly women and children have recounted incidents of sexual violence allegedly perpetrated by armed groups mainly in the Darfur region.

Baerbock reiterated her country’s humanitarian support to the refugees and called on well-wishers including the oil-rich Gulf countries not to turn a “blind eye: to the humanitarian suffering.

Foreign Minister Baerbock further said: “It is clear that this suffering can only end when the war in Sudan comes to an end.”

“That is why I am here in South Sudan to explore how to get not only the two generals to the negotiating table, but how especially the civilian population, against whom this war is being waged, and especially the women, against whom this war in Sudan is being waged, will be able to come to the negotiating table.”