The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Wednesday that the window to save lives is closing as famine looms in Sudan's war-torn regions, with civilians trapped by intensified fighting in northern Darfur. The threat of famine is growing, especially for 5 million Sudanese already on the brink of starvation. In all, nearly 18 million people are facing acute hunger, while half the population - some 25 million people - are in need of humanitarian assistance.
“Commitments made by all parties to facilitate humanitarian access urgently need to be translated into realities on the ground,” Carl Skau, WFP’s deputy executive director, said in a statement.
Skau just returned from a mission to Sudan this week. He said the situation is “desperate and quickly deteriorating.”
“Only a few weeks remain to stock up food supplies in parts of Darfur and Kordofan before the rainy season starts and many roads become impassable,” he said. “Farmers also need to safely reach their farmlands to plant ahead of the rains.”
The rainy season in Sudan runs from June to July.
Despite fighting, border closures, checkpoints and other challenges, WFP says it is currently reaching some 2.5 million Sudanese with aid.
Sudan was plunged into a devastating war 13 months ago when fighting broke out in the capital, Khartoum, between the leaders of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The two generals were once allies in Sudan's transitional government following a coup in 2021, but have become rivals for power.
Fighting has since spread to other parts of the country, forcing more than 9 million people to flee their homes in search of safety. Two million have fled Sudan for neighboring countries.
WFP has repeatedly been warning that Sudan could become the world’s worst hunger crisis as the conflict enters its second year. The window to prevent famine is rapidly closing without immediate action.
“The situation in Sudan has not been given the attention it deserves. That must change now. Concerted diplomatic efforts and more resources are urgently needed to protect civilians and to strengthen the humanitarian response. WFP is committed and ready to do its part,” Skau said.
WFP says at least 5 million Sudanese are on the brink of starvation, but the number could be significantly higher, as the most recent data is from December.
The UN agency has identified 41 hunger "hot spots" that are at high risk of sliding into famine in the coming month - most of them in hard-to-reach conflict-affected areas, including the Darfur and Kordofan regions and Khartoum.
WFP estimates that more than 1.7 million people across Darfur are facing emergency levels of hunger and are on the brink of famine.
The United Nations has been sounding the alarm about the situation in North Darfur for weeks. In recent days, RSF has reportedly begun to advance on SAF forces in El Fasher, the regional capital, putting more than 800,000 civilians in the city at risk.
El Fasher is the only city in Darfur that the RSF has not yet captured. A full-scale battle there could unleash atrocities similar to the genocide perpetrated by Arab Janjaweed fighters against African Zaghawa, Masalit, Fur and other non-Arab ethnic groups in Darfur in the early 2000s. Janjaweed fighters make up the RSF today.
Since early April this year, the Rapid Support Forces have launched several large-scale attacks on villages west of El Fasher. For weeks, the UN has been among the voices warning that the RSF have encircled the North Darfur capital and are poised to attack.
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have positions inside the city, but are besieged by the RSF. So are some 800,000 residents, including hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs). The UN estimates 330,000 people are facing crisis levels of food insecurity in El Fasher due to a shortage of food items and soaring prices.
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.
Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, said the weekend clashes in El Fasher reportedly caused dozens of civilian casualties and more displacement, with many residents seeking safety in the southern part of the city. She said aid cannot get through.
“More than a dozen trucks carrying health, nutrition and other critical supplies for more than 120,000 people have been trying to reach the city for weeks,” she told reporters at the United Nations on Wednesday.
“They set out from Port Sudan on the 3rd of April — and still can’t reach El Fasher due to insecurity and delays in getting clearances at checkpoints.”
The international humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, MSF), supports a hospital in El Fasher that is overwhelmed and running low on supplies.
“Until now, North Darfur had been a relatively safe haven compared to other parts of Darfur,” Dr. Prince Djuma Safari, deputy medical coordinator in El Fasher for MSF, said in a statement. “Now, there are snipers in the streets, heavy shelling is taking place, and nowhere in the city is safe at all.”
He said more than 450 casualties, including women and children, had arrived at the MSF-supported South Hospital in El Fasher since fighting began on Friday. He said 56 of the patients had died and 40 more are still waiting for surgery.
Sudan has witnessed shocking levels of violence since fighting broke out on April 15, 2023, sparked by a power struggle between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, and General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as "Hemedti,", plunging the country into a devastating humanitarian crisis.
"Over the past year, thousands of lives have been lost. Communities and families have been torn apart. Homes and civilian infrastructure have been destroyed. Khartoum – the beating heart of Sudan – has been decimated. No one – and nothing – has been spared," Nkweta-Salami said.
The civil war between the SAF and the RSF is being conducted with new levels of violence and brutality against civilians, particularly in the states of Darfur. The RSF in particular has been accused of mass killings and rape as a means of warfare. However, both parties to the conflict have been accused of serious war crimes.
Thousands are being ethnically targeted, killed, injured, abused and exploited, forcing more and more people to flee the violence. Gender-based violence (GBV), including sexual violence, is being used as a tool of war and is no longer concentrated in Khartoum or Darfur, but has spread to other parts of the country.
“Horrific atrocities are being committed with reckless abandon. Reports of rape, torture and ethnically motivated violence are streaming in. Indiscriminate attacks are killing civilians, including young children,” the Humanitarian Coordinator said.
Sudan is experiencing a humanitarian emergency of epic proportions that many have called the world's largest human-made crisis, with half the population in need of life-saving assistance, tens of thousands killed and injured, and millions uprooted from their homes. Most of the population lacks access to health care.
Aid agencies say the war is having catastrophic consequences for a population of nearly 49 million people - with more than 24.8 million in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance. Among those in need are more than 14 million children. In the Darfur region, more than 9 million people require humanitarian assistance.
As the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate, the financial resources needed to meet the needs throughout Sudan and in neighboring countries are woefully inadequate. As of May 16, only 12 percent of the $2.7 billion needed under the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) to provide life-saving assistance to more than 18 million people inside Sudan has been received.
"The international community cannot stand by as this crisis spirals out of control – as the noose of this conflict tightens its stranglehold on the civilian population. It is time for increased advocacy, increased attention, and increased resources," Nkweta-Salami said. "Time is running out – we need action now."
On Thursday, UN Secretary-General AntĂłnio Guterres urged the international community to intensify its push for peace, and called on the warring parties to agree on a lasting ceasefire.
Some information for this report provided by VOA.
Further information
Full text: Small window remains to avert disaster in Sudan's war-torn regions, warns WFP Deputy Executive Director, WFP, press release, published May 15, 2024
https://www.wfp.org/news/small-window-remains-avert-disaster-sudans-war-torn-regions-warns-wfp-deputy-executive
Full text: Opening Remarks at the Noon Briefing by Clementine Nkweta-Salami, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, 15 May 2024, statement, delivered May 15, 2024
https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/opening-remarks-noon-briefing-clementine-nkweta-salami-resident-and-humanitarian-coordinator-sudan-15-may-2024
Full text: Nowhere is safe as deadly fighting escalates in El Fasher, North Darfur, MSF, press release, published May 15, 2024
https://www.msf.org/sudan-nowhere-safe-deadly-fighting-escalates-el-fasher