The confirmation of famine in parts of Sudan's Darfur region must serve as a wake-up call for the international community, a senior United Nations official said on Tuesday. Stopping the famine in Sudan requires political will and leadership, he told the UN Security Council, as speakers urged the warring parties to heed the international community's repeated calls to stop the fighting and avoid further deterioration of an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
“Our warnings have not been heard,” said Stephen Omollo, Assistant Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), recalling earlier warnings of a widespread collapse of food security across Sudan.
The IPC's Famine Review Committee concluded on Thursday that famine is occurring in the Zamzam camp for displaced people near El Fasher in North Darfur and that other areas in Darfur and elsewhere are at high risk, with more than half of the country's population facing crisis levels of hunger.
The Council must ensure that “this forgotten crisis” receives the “political and diplomatic attention it desperately needs”, the WFP official said, pointing to the failure of both the Government and rebel forces to meet their obligations under international humanitarian law by routinely blocking requests for cross-line clearances and imposing restrictions on cross-border routes.
“There must now be a coordinated diplomatic effort to address the widespread operational challenges and impediments that aid agencies are facing, as we try to reach the millions of Sudanese people in abject need,” Omollo said.
WFP and other humanitarian agencies and organizations have been warning since March that famine was imminent. On Thursday, their worst fears were realized when international food monitors confirmed that more than a year of war has pushed parts of North Darfur into famine, while 13 other areas are "at risk of famine" in the coming months.
Fighting between rival generals leading the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) for the past 15 months has plunged the country into the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with 26 million people at crisis levels of hunger across Sudan.
The conflict between the SAF and RSF continues to spread across the country, with clashes currently raging in El Fasher in the Darfur region and Sennar State in the southeast. Each escalation of fighting makes it more dangerous to deliver aid and exacerbates humanitarian needs.
According to the UN, the intensified fighting in El Fasher has displaced some 320,000 people since mid-April, with some 150,000 to 200,000 believed to have moved to Zamzam camp since mid-May. The camp population is said to have swelled to over 500,000 in just a few weeks.
Deadly clashes in the capital of North Darfur state have hit residential areas, markets, hospitals and sites hosting displaced people. The humanitarian situation in El Fasher, where people have been trapped by fighting for months, is critical.
Omollo, who briefed an emergency meeting of the Security Council convened to discuss the confirmation of famine, said more than 750,000 people in the country are currently facing catastrophic levels of hunger, and an estimated 730,000 children are estimated to be suffering from the most life-threatening form of malnutrition.
“A cease-fire remains the only sustainable solution that will prevent the further spread of famine,” he said in a video link from WFP headquarters in Rome.
To make matters worse, “Sudan is critically underfunded,” he said, highlighting the need for increased and flexible funding to support the rapid scale-up of the relief operations “if we are to save lives”.
The Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) is just 32 percent funded — having received $874 million out of the $2.7 billion needed.
“Halting the famine now under way requires political will and leadership,” he said.
Edem Wosornu, the Director of Operations and Advocacy, at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told the Council that the announcement of famine should “stop all of us cold.”
“Because when famine happens, it means we are too late,” she said. “It means we did not do enough. It means that we, the international community, have failed.”
“This is an entirely man-made crisis — and a shameful stain on our collective conscience”, Wosornu said.
She said the United Nations and its partners are exploring all options to scale up aid to the most affected communities, including the use of airdrops, which are a last resort for humanitarians because of their high cost and inefficiency.
“But we cannot go very far without the access and resources we need,” she said. “Aid workers in Sudan continue to be harassed, attacked and even killed. Convoys of life-saving supplies such as food and medicine, as well as fuel, have been subjected to looting and extortion. And this, of course, must stop.”
Humanitarian agencies say they face constant obstacles from both warring parties, including insecurity, restrictions on cross-border and frontline access, visa delays, delayed permits, looting and other difficulties in reaching vulnerable communities.
The United Nations has repeatedly called for the opening of the Adre border crossing between Chad and West Darfur to reach the most desperate people in North Darfur. The Sudanese government has been reluctant to open the crossing, accusing its rival RSF of using Adre to smuggle in weapons, fuel and logistical support under the guise of humanitarian aid.
Sudanese Ambassador Al-Harith Mohamed said his government was not blocking aid and suggested that humanitarians use another crossing point at Tine, on Sudan's northwestern border with Chad.
“It has been authorized to serve as a hub for the collection of aid to be distributed to the rest of region,” he said. He noted that if Adre needed to be open on an emergency basis, it should first be approved by the government.
According to OCHA, relief supplies for people in Zamzam are readily available in eastern Chad, but heavy rains have flooded the Tine crossing - the only cross-border route currently allowed between eastern Chad and Darfur, after Sudanese authorities revoked permission to use the Adre crossing, which would be the most effective route.
“Assistance delayed is assistance denied,” Wosornu said, stressing that “it is still possible to stop this freight train of suffering that is charging through Sudan”.
Mohamed also disputed that there is famine in Darfur, saying the declaration was made as a political “punishment” because they will not open the Adre crossing.
“We do not deny that the humanitarian situation is dire,” he said, noting that a local humanitarian commission recently visited the displacement camp in North Darfur where the experts say famine has taken hold and found the “situation is stable” and that there have been no deaths or starvation among the camp population.
At the Security Council meeting, ambassadors called for an immediate cease-fire between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces as the only sustainable solution to prevent further spread of famine. They also supported the UN officials' calls for rapid, safe, and unimpeded humanitarian access throughout Sudan by all possible routes and for increased funding.
On August 14, the United States is convening cease-fire talks in Geneva, Switzerland, and has invited both RSF and SAF leaders to attend to discuss a possible agreement.
UN and international aid groups, medical workers and civil society organizations have been reporting and sounding the alarm for months about starvation-related deaths, especially of babies and young children. More than half the population is now facing acute hunger - including 755,000 people facing catastrophic conditions (IPC5), with hunger-related deaths already recorded. Every second Sudanese struggles to put enough food on the table every day.
8.5 million people face emergency levels of hunger (IPC4). People experiencing emergency levels of hunger are also at risk of dying from hunger-related causes. The situation is worst in areas hardest hit by the fighting and where conflict-displaced people are concentrated.
The war has killed and injured tens of thousands of people, resulted in widespread atrocities, and caused massive displacement. Over the course of fifteen months, more than 10.4 million people - including more than 5 million children - have been forced to flee their homes as a result of the ongoing conflict.
While more than 8.1 million people - Sudanese and refugees already living in the country - have been displaced within Sudan, more than 2.3 million women, men and children have sought refuge in other countries.
Most of the Sudanese who have crossed borders have sought refuge in the seven countries surrounding the northeastern African nation. South Sudan has received the largest number of people from Sudan - more than 750,000 - many of them South Sudanese returning after many years. Chad has seen the largest influx of refugees in its history, with about 630,000 people crossing the border.
As of July 2024, more than 10.8 million women, men, and children have been internally displaced by conflict in the country - 2.8 million before April 2023 - making Sudan the largest internal displacement crisis in the world.
The total number of Sudanese refugees is estimated at more than 2.8 million, including those forced to flee before April 2023. In total, more than 13.5 million people have now been displaced by the conflict in Sudan, making it the worst displacement crisis in the world.
Some information for this report provided by VOA.