Time is running out for millions of people in Sudan who are "at imminent risk of famine" because the country's warring parties are preventing aid from reaching them, major aid agencies warn. Nineteen global humanitarian organizations, including twelve United Nations agencies, urged Sudan's warring parties on Friday to stop blocking food aid from reaching millions of people suffering from acute hunger.
Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told journalists in Geneva that the heads of these agencies fear that many of Sudan's 18 million acutely hungry people, including 3.6 million children, will die if the blocked relief pipeline isn't opened.
“If they continue to be prevented from providing aid in Sudan rapidly and at scale, a famine will likely take hold in large parts of the country. More people will flee to neighboring countries. Children will succumb to disease and malnutrition, and women and girls will face even greater suffering and dangers.”
According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), acutely malnourished children are up to 11 times more likely to die than well-nourished children. Malnutrition and disease are mutually reinforcing: sick children are more likely to become malnourished, and malnourished children are more likely to become sick.
Since clashes between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began on April 15 last year, more than 9.2 million people have been displaced. While more than 7.2 million people - Sudanese and refugees already living in the country - have been displaced within Sudan, some 2 million women, men and children have sought refuge in other countries.
“Attacks against civilians, including sexual violence, are multiplying, and hospitals and schools are also coming under attack,” Laerke said.
“At the same time, aid workers face systematic obstructions and deliberate denials of access by parties to the conflict. Movements across conflict lines to parts of Khartoum, Darfur, Al Jazirah and Kordofan have been cut off since mid-December.”
The statement by the so-called Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), chaired by Martin Griffiths, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator and head of OCHA, expresses concern about the bleak outlook for food production this year as extreme hunger spreads.
Friday's statement was issued by IASC, the UN system's highest-level humanitarian coordination forum, which brings together the heads of 20 UN and non-UN agencies.
The 19 heads of the group who signed the statement included the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the heads of OCHA, UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), as well as CARE International, Mercy Corps Save the Children and World Vision International, representing the world's humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
The relief agencies say they “have a rapidly shrinking window to get seeds to farmers before the main planting season ends and the rainy season begins.” If seeds are distributed in time, they added, “people — especially those in inaccessible areas — will be able to produce food locally and avert food shortages in the next six months.”
Otherwise, they warn “people will go hungry and be forced to move in search of food, shelter and protection. Let us be clear: If we are prevented from providing aid rapidly and at scale, more people will die.”
“Without an immediate and major step change, we will face a nightmare scenario: A famine will take hold in large parts of the country. More people will flee to neighboring countries in search of sustenance and safety. More children will succumb to disease and malnutrition,” the statement said.
OCHA’s Laerke said people in El Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur, are in a particularly perilous situation. He said more than 800,000 civilians are bracing for an imminent large-scale attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces to take control of the city, the last stronghold of the Sudanese Armed Forces in the western Darfur region.
That, he warned, “would unleash catastrophic humanitarian consequences both in the city and across Darfur.”
In a statement Thursday, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, warned that “the noose of war is tightening its stranglehold on a civilian population that is under attack from all sides.”
She said she has received disturbing reports that medical facilities, displacement camps, and critical civilian infrastructure in El Fasher have been targeted by parties to the conflict and that much of the population “has limited access to basic necessities and essential services, including food and health care.”
Escalating fighting in recent days has resulted in many civilian deaths and injuries, damaged the only functioning hospital in the state, and hampered humanitarian access to the town and beyond.
Laerke noted that since February the cross-border movement of humanitarian aid from Chad into Darfur has “come to a halt.” He said that is why the IASC is calling for all methods to be used “to get food and other aid into Darfur and other hot spots in Sudan” as soon as possible.
He acknowledged that the conditions for delivering aid are extremely dangerous.
“A few days ago, a staff member of Medecin Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) was killed in his home and other aid workers have been harassed, injured and so on,” he said.
“So, this, of course, needs to stop and it needs to be safe and secure for aid workers to operate and it needs to be safe and secure for people to receive the aid.”
He expressed disappointment that the rival SAF and RSF generals have so far refused to resume peace negotiations, saying: “We want these generals to find a way to solve their differences — not by violence that kills, maims, rapes hundreds of thousands of people in Sudan — but do it in another way.”
In its statement Friday, the IASC deplored that Sudan seemingly has become a neglected, forgotten crisis, noting that nearly five months into the year, and six weeks after the United Nations held an international pledging conference for Sudan in Paris, “we have received just 16 percent of the $2.7 billion we need.”
They called on donors to urgently disburse pledges made in Paris and accelerate additional funding for the humanitarian appeal.
“With a famine on the horizon, we must deliver much more life-saving aid now, including seeds for farmers before the planting season ends.”
In a separate statement on Thursday, three UN aid agencies warned that an entire generation of children in war-torn Sudan is at risk of malnutrition, disease and death unless urgent action is taken.
According to UNICEF, WFP and WHO, child malnutrition is being exacerbated by limited access to nutritious food, safe drinking water and adequate sanitation, as well as an increased risk of disease. The situation is further compounded by massive population displacement as large numbers of people continue to flee the conflict.
As of May 2024, at least 10 million women, men and children are internally displaced by conflict in the country, making Sudan the largest internal displacement crisis in the world. The total number of Sudanese refugees is now estimated at more than 2.6 million. Altogether, more than 12.6 million people have now been displaced by conflict in Sudan, making it one of the two largest displacement crises in the world, alongside the war in Syria.
Child malnutrition in Sudan is at emergency levels. In Central Darfur, for example, acute malnutrition among children under five is estimated at 15.6 percent, while in ZamZam camp, south of El Fasher in North Darfur, it's nearly 30 percent. The situation has deteriorated in recent months and shows no sign of abating due to the ongoing conflict and severe restrictions on humanitarian access.
Malnutrition levels are also particularly worrying among pregnant and lactating mothers.
“Mothers and children across Sudan are wasting away from malnutrition. The ongoing war has stripped them of everything they need to survive – food, medical support, and shelter,” said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain.
“We need immediate and safe access to deliver the humanitarian assistance that they so desperately need. Without it, this crisis risks becoming the world’s largest hunger emergency.”
The statement said that while malnutrition and disease also exacerbate each other, even for children who recover in the immediate period, malnutrition can still have long-term effects on physical and cognitive development.
“Malnutrition is not a one-time crisis. Malnourished children face a lifetime of developmental challenges and ill-health and are also more likely to die from infectious diseases”, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The aid agencies say there are still data gaps in the latest UN analysis due to the conflict, and that humanitarian presence is minimal in some areas of the country. They say an upcoming rainy season, beginning in June, will further isolate communities and breed disease. A lean season between harvests, when food becomes scarce, is also approaching.
Some information for this report provided by VOA.
Further information
Full text: Statement by Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee: No time to lose as famine stalks millions in Sudan amid intense fighting and access denials, IASC, published May 31, 2024
https://interagencystandingcommittee.org/inter-agency-standing-committee/statement-principals-inter-agency-standing-committee-no-time-lose-famine-stalks-millions-sudan-amid
Full text: Statement by the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, on the situation in Al Fasher, North Darfur State, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, published May 30, 2024
https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/statement-resident-and-humanitarian-coordinator-sudan-clementine-nkweta-salami-situation-al-fasher-north-darfur-state-enar
Full text: Sudan’s children trapped in critical malnutrition crisis, warn UN agencies, UNICEF, press release, published May 30, 2024
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/sudans-children-trapped-critical-malnutrition-crisis-warn-un-agencies