14 Areas in Sudan at Risk: UN Evidence of Famine in Northern Darfur
Moatinoon
A UN-backed food security report concluded on Thursday that more than a year of war in Sudan has driven parts of Northern Darfur into famine, including a camp for displaced people housing more than half a million people.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters about the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the global monitor of food insecurity: "According to the report, catastrophic hunger conditions are expected for the first time in the history of the survey in Sudan, with 14 areas declared at risk of famine in the coming months."
The classification does not declare famine but provides the necessary evidence for an official declaration.
The determination that Sudans worsening hunger crisis meets the technical definition of famine is the first time such conditions have been officially declared worldwide since 2017.
A Famine Review Committee of experts found that the 15-month war had driven parts of Northern Darfur, particularly the Zamzam camp near the besieged city of El Fasher, into famine conditions.
This rare announcement follows warnings that the war has created one of the worlds worst humanitarian crises, with the potential for hunger to kill thousands of people daily.
Relief agencies impose a strict five-level framework for classifying and prioritizing escalating hunger crises, with the official term "famine" used for the highest level of catastrophe.
The scale, called the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), declares a specific area as facing famine when at least 20% of people or households suffer severe food shortages, facing hunger and poverty, leading to critical levels of acute malnutrition and death.
The UN says intense fighting in El Fasher has displaced approximately 320,000 people since mid-April, with an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 of them moving to the Zamzam camp since mid-May. It says the camps population has expanded to include more than half a million people within a few weeks.
The conflict between rival generals leading the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces over the past 15 months has severely hampered humanitarian aid access, worsening the hunger crisis.
In addition to the areas facing famine, the UN warns that half of the countrys population—about 25.6 million people—are experiencing crisis levels or worse of food insecurity.
Dujarric said the World Food Programme is rapidly scaling up its emergency response and is attempting to find new ways to reach millions of people across Sudan, especially in hard-to-reach areas.
He added, "Our colleagues at the World Food Programme tell us we are in a race against time to prevent famine," adding, "but there is an urgent need for a significant increase in funding to expand assistance on the required scale to avoid famine."
The UN appealed for 2.7 billion for Sudan this year but received about a third of that—870 million.
Dujarric added, "We and our partners warn that if the war does not stop, more and more people will be pushed into catastrophic levels of hunger."
The NGO Mercy Corps said the IPC report on famine is "just the tip of the iceberg." Barrett Alexander, Mercy Corps Sudan Programs Director, said in a statement, "We can only imagine the extent of hunger and deprivation in other areas where we lack similar data, especially in the 14 areas identified in the latest IPC report, including Greater Darfur, Kordofan regions, and Khartoum State."
He said that according to a recent assessment by his team in Central and Southern Darfur, 9 out of 10 children, especially those under the age of five, suffer from life-threatening malnutrition.
