Women waiting for humanitarian aid in Sudan. WFP: Sudan faces worst famine in the world Humanitarian assistance
U.N. aid officials warned Wednesday that the military conflict in Sudan that began 11 months ago could trigger “the world’s worst famine.”
The country is already experiencing its largest forced displacement, the UN World Food Program (WFP) said.
As a result of fighting between the Sudanese army and a group known as the Rapid Reaction Force (SBR), thousands of people died, and eight million Sudanese became refugees.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that 14 million children are already in desperate need of life-saving assistance .
Humanitarian workers also warn that unless the fighting stops, the conflict could spread beyond Sudan’s borders, threatening security throughout the region.
Read also:
In Darfur “humanitarian disaster and human rights crisis”: how it happened and what the UN is doing about it?
“When Darfur experienced the world’s worst famine twenty years ago, the world rallied to respond to the crisis. But today the people of Sudan are deprived of attention. “Millions of lives and the peace and stability of an entire region are at stake,” said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain from South Sudan, where she met with families who have fled violence and hunger in their home country.
Aid limited
Currently, 18 million people in Sudan are severely food insecure, and five million are at risk of death from malnutrition. According to the latest WFP data, less than five percent of the country’s population can afford a nutritious lunch or dinner.
The WFP warns that aid workers face serious obstacles due to restrictions on movement , military actions and interventions by parties to the conflict, as well as due to lack of funding.
Humanitarian operations were further hit after authorities revoked permits for cross-border shipments, preventing aid from Chad to Darfur, WFP said.
Sudanese refugees in a border village in Chad.
As a result of restrictions, the UN Program is not able to provide emergency food assistance in the required quantities.
In addition, nine out of 10 hungry people are unable to leave areas of Sudan that are largely inaccessible to aid workers. In this regard, the WFP issued a new urgent appeal to stop hostilities and allow all humanitarian organizations access to those in need.
Regional crisis
According to WFP, the food crisis is not limited to one country – more than 25 million people in Sudan, South Sudan and Chad also need support.
The war between the country’s army and rebels, which has continued since April 15 last year, has forced millions of people to flee their homes.
In South Sudan, where 600 thousand people have taken refuge, “one in five children suffer from malnutrition in border transit centers,” the WFP reported.
And although refugees are only A small portion of South Sudan’s population, newly arrived Sudanese account for more than 30 percent of those facing catastrophic levels of hunger.
Funding Gap
In 2024, WFP plans to help 4.2 million people.
Earlier this year, the Program reported that there was a $74 million shortfall in helping those affected by the crisis in Sudan.
“The consequences of inaction go far beyond mothers being unable to feed their children; the entire region will feel the effects of the crisis for years to come,” the WFP chief said.