Starvation crisis of ‘historic proportions’ in Sudan, aid groups warn

Sudan is facing “a starvation crisis of historic proportions” amid its civil war, three humanitarian groups have warned.

The international community is failing “to address the immense hunger”, the Norwegian Refugee Council, the Danish Refugee Council, and Mercy Corps said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

“We cannot be clearer: Sudan is experiencing a starvation crisis of historic proportions. And yet, the silence is deafening. People are dying of hunger, every day, and yet the focus remains on semantic debates and legal definitions,” it said, referring to the debate on whether Sudan is experiencing a famine.

The criteria for a famine include four of 10,000 children dying of hunger every day or more than 30 percent of the population being undernourished.

This is difficult to determine in conflict situations such as in Sudan, where the work of aid organisations is hampered and not all people can be reached.Rival generals from the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group have been locked in a brutal power struggle in Sudan since April 2023. The bloody fighting has displaced more than 10 million people and killed thousands.

At United States-brokered peace talks in Switzerland last month, mediators said the warring parties had agreed to improve access to humanitarian aid, with two routes identified to ensure the flow of resources to civilians.

But the absence of the Sudanese army during the 10-day discussions hindered progress towards a ceasefire.

Food production has been severely affected. Many fields have been destroyed, mined or the farmers driven away, while livestock have been killed.

“More than 25 million people – more than half the population – are suffering acute food insecurity. Many families have for months been reduced to one meal a day and have been forced to eat leaves or insects,” the agencies said.

They noted that while the people of Sudan “have shown immense resilience and strength” since the conflict started, they now “have nowhere left to turn”.

Appeals for donations have reached less than half of what is needed.

“International attention and action have amounted to too little, too late,” they said, with the humanitarian response plan currently only 41 percent funded.

“Pressure must be applied to ensure that humanitarian aid can flow in and reach those who will otherwise pay with their lives,” the statement added.