The heads of the Norwegian Refugee Council, the Danish Refugee Council, and Mercy Corps have issued a joint statement urging the international community to address the severe hunger crisis in Sudan. They warned that the country is experiencing a starvation crisis of historic proportions, with more than 25 million people—over half the population—suffering from acute food insecurity.
The humanitarian leaders emphasised that Sudan is facing a crisis unmatched in decades, with children starving to death as the peak of the lean season approaches. Despite the severity of the situation, international attention has been lacking, and the Humanitarian Response Plan is only 41% funded, with much of this aid arriving too late to prevent deaths from starvation.
The statement highlighted the immense resilience of the Sudanese people over the past 17 months, but noted that they now have nowhere left to turn. The conflict has devastated the country’s food production, destroying agriculture and livestock sectors, and the weaponization of food has been observed in areas controlled by both sides of the conflict.
Humanitarian aid has been obstructed by logistics constraints, arbitrary denials, and bureaucratic hurdles. Even where aid is reaching people, it is in such limited supply that rations are insufficient, with some ten-person households receiving only 2kg of millet to last an entire month.
The humanitarian leaders stressed that the suffering endured by the Sudanese people is unimaginable and that their resilience will be in vain if the international community continues to turn a blind eye. They called for immediate action to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those who are at risk of dying from starvation.
