The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday that the very real risk of famine continues to stalk Sudan’s war-impacted communities, and appealed for more funding to support immediate needs and boost longer-term recovery across the country. The appeal comes as funding shortfalls are disrupting WFP's operations across Sudan, where famine has been declared in several regions and more areas are at risk.
The UN agency is more than US$ 500 million short of what is needed for emergency supplies over the next six months, or US$700 million when all of its program operations are included.
“Over the past six months, WFP scaled up assistance, and we are now reaching nearly one million Sudanese in Khartoum with food and nutrition support,” said Laurent Bukera, WFP's country director in Sudan, speaking to journalists in Geneva.
“This momentum must continue; several areas in the south are at risk of famine.”
In an update from Port Sudan, Bukera reported that a mission to Khartoum found many neighborhoods abandoned and heavily damaged, resembling a “ghost city.” He insisted that pressure on overstretched resources will only intensify.
As conflict continues to rage between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — sparked by a breakdown in the transition to civilian rule in 2023 — the veteran aid worker explained that communities on the frontlines are at "breaking point" and unable to support displaced families anymore.
“The international community must act now by stepping up funding to stop famine in the hardest hit area, and to invest in Sudan's recovery,” the WFP official stressed.
"We must also demand respect for the safety and the protection of the Sudanese people and aid workers."
Bukera warned that indiscriminate — and unacceptable — attacks on humanitarian personnel and operations were escalating, including an attack on a WFP-UNICEF convoy approaching the town of El Fasher the previous week. Five humanitarian personnel were killed in the attack, and more were injured. He urgently called for an immediate end to such attacks.
More than two years of war have destroyed infrastructure and left communities without basic services, such as clean water. These conditions, coupled with weeks of heavy rains, have contributed to a deadly cholera outbreak and reports of corpses rotting in the Nile in Omdurman, one of the capital’s three cities.
Last week, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that war-related displacement and the spread of cholera continue to increase needs across Sudan.
“We are deeply concerned and meeting the basic needs, especially food, will be critical and is urgent,” said WFP’s Bukera.
“Urgent action is needed to restore basic services and accelerate recovery through coordinated efforts with local authorities, national NGOs [non-governmental organizations], UN agencies and humanitarian partners.”
A lack of international support has prevented this life-saving work, forcing WFP to reduce the amount and range of relief it can distribute.
“Funding shortfalls are already disrupting some of the assistance we are providing in Khartoum, Blue Nile, Al Jazirah and Sennar states,” the WFP senior official continued.
“Our rations and the oil and the pulses in the food basket had to be removed due to lack of resources.”
In addition, he said that in Sudan's capital Khartoum, lifesaving nutritional supplements for young children and pregnant and nursing mothers are already "out of reach" due to a lack of resources.
Despite the many challenges, the UN agency now reaches four million people a month across Sudan. This is nearly four times more than at the start of 2024, as humanitarian access has been expanded to previously unreachable areas, including Khartoum.
WFP also supports communities in the long term by providing cash assistance to support local markets, as well as support for bakeries and small businesses planning to reopen.
“We have rapidly scaled up our operation to meet increasing needs,” Bukera said, stressing that the UN agency aims to reach seven million people monthly, prioritizing those facing famine or living in areas at extreme risk, such as people in the Darfur region, Kordofan region, and Al Jazirah State.
Replying to questions from journalists, Bukera said the United States remained the largest donor for WFP in Sudan, and its funding had not been cut. He said that the UN agency acknowledged this generosity while working hard to expand the donor base. He stressed that WFP was hopeful to receive further support from the US for its Sudan operations,
The new United States administration, which took office at the end of January 2025, has eliminated most overseas humanitarian funding, causing a global humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions. This crisis has already cost an unknown number of lives and puts millions more at risk of death worldwide.
WFP’s emergency food aid in Sudan is one of the few exemptions that has not been curtailed by the United States.
Since April 15, 2023, the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces have been engaged in a brutal war that has caused an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. More than 30 million people, including over 16 million children, are in urgent need of assistance in what is now the world's largest humanitarian emergency.
Due to the war, Sudan is also facing the world's largest hunger crisis. Across the country, approximately 25 million people — nearly half the population — are experiencing acute hunger, while nearly 5 million children and lactating mothers are acutely malnourished.
The country is the only place in the world where famine has been confirmed in multiple areas, and continues to spread. Ten locations have been declared famine zones: eight in North Darfur State and two in the Western Nuba Mountains. Seventeen other areas, including parts of Darfur, the Nuba Mountains, Khartoum, and Al-Jazira, are at risk of famine.
Additionally, Sudan is confronted with the world's largest and most severe displacement crisis. Since the war began in April 2023, over 13 million people have been forced to flee their homes. Over 4 million of the displaced have crossed into neighboring countries, including Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic.
In recent months, over a million internally displaced people (IDPs) have returned to their areas of origin, reducing the overall displacement figure to under 13 million since the start of the war. However, more and more people continue to cross borders in search of refuge.