The United States announced on Thursday its intention to press the United Nations Security Council for action to deliver aid to the hunger-stricken population in Sudan.
The proposed actions might include authorizing aid delivery from Chad if the Sudanese military does not facilitate the necessary mechanisms for supply distribution.
As the conflict in Sudan nears its one-year mark, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, stated that both warring parties have hindered aid delivery efforts and disregarded the Security Council’s call for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
“The situation in Sudan remains dire and is worsening… People are starving,” Thomas-Greenfield informed reporters.
The conflict in Sudan erupted on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese military and the Rapid Support Forces. According to the United Nations, around 25 million people, half of Sudan’s population, are in need of assistance.
Approximately eight million have been displaced from their homes, and a catastrophic famine could claim the lives of around five million in the coming months.
Thomas-Greenfield accused the Sudanese armed forces of blocking aid access from Chad to the Darfur region, controlled by the Rapid Support Forces, describing the situation as “literally a matter of life or death.”
“In the Zamzam camp in North Darfur, a child dies every two hours. Experts warn that more than 200,000 children could die of starvation in the weeks and months ahead,” she added, calling on the Sudanese military to fully reopen the borders immediately.
“If they do not do so, the Security Council must take swift action to ensure the delivery and distribution of life-saving aid, including, if necessary, adopting a cross-border mechanism,” she stated.
The Security Council has previously authorized such operations, allowing humanitarian aid delivery from neighboring countries to millions, mostly in opposition-controlled areas in Syria, for nine years.
The United States asserts that both parties in the Sudanese conflict have committed war crimes. The U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan, Tom Perriello, mentioned on Tuesday that Washington is looking forward to a potential resumption of peace talks in Sudan by April 18, in Saudi Arabia.
A United Nations sanctions monitors’ report accessed by Reuters in January stated that the Rapid Support Forces and allied Arab militias killed between ten thousand and fifteen thousand people in a single city in West Darfur last year in ethnically motivated violence.
