Amid ongoing infighting and relentless warfare in Sudan, the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs warned on Thursday that the nearly year-long conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces is pushing the African nation towards what could become the worst hunger crisis in the world, with rising rates of malnutrition and child fatalities already occurring.
Edem Wosornu, Director of Humanitarian Operations, told the United Nations Security Council that one-third of Sudan’s population – 18 million people – are already facing acute food insecurity, with potentially catastrophic levels of hunger expected in some areas of the Darfur region by the “lean season” in May.
She added: “Recent assessments reveal that a child dies every two hours in Zamzam camp in El Fasher, North Darfur… our humanitarian partners estimate that in the coming weeks and months, approximately 222,000 children may die in parts of the region due to malnutrition.”
Wosornu described the horrifyingly violent situation, which has witnessed chilling accounts of ethnic attacks and sexual violence including mass rape and indiscriminate attacks in densely populated areas, as “material for nightmares.”
With global attention currently focused on the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and to a lesser extent on the conflict in Ukraine, Wosornu expressed regret that “the humanitarian travesty unfolding in Sudan is happening under the veil of international neglect and inaction.”
Sudan descended into chaos last April when long-standing tensions between its army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo erupted into street battles in the capital, Khartoum.
The fighting quickly spread to other parts of the country, particularly urban areas, but took on a different form in Darfur.
In late January, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, said there were reasons to believe that both sides in the current conflict are committing potential war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide in Darfur.
Wosornu stated that the violent fighting has not abated in Khartoum, Darfur, and Kordofan, where 90% of people facing emergency levels of food insecurity reside.
She added that farmers have been forced to abandon their fields and grain production has decreased since hostilities moved to Al Gezira state, considered Sudan’s breadbasket, in December.
