Famine is widespread in several war-torn areas of Sudanand will remain present among the affected population for at least the next two months, indicates a new report global report on food insecurity released Thursday.
The armed conflict, which has escalated for 15 months, “has severely hampered humanitarian access and has pushed into famine parts of northern Darfur, particularly in the Zamzam IDP camp,” warned the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Famine Review Committee.
The Committee – made up of UN agencies, regional partners and aid organisations – classifies food insecurity into five stages, the fifth of which indicates famine when at least one in five people or families suffers from an extreme lack of food and faces starvation.
Half a million displaced people take refuge in Zamzam
Zamzam is located about 12 kilometers south of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, and is One of Sudan’s largest internally displaced persons campswith a population that has expanded rapidly in recent weeks to at least 500,000 people.
“The scale of the devastation caused by the escalating violence in the town of El Fasher is profound and heartbreaking,” the report said.
He also explains that the persistent, intense and widespread clashes have forced many residents to seek refuge in displacement camps, where basic services are scarce or non-existent, worsening the humanitarian situation.
The document estimates that around 320,000 people have been displaced since mid-April in El Fasher, and that 150,000 to 200,000 of them have moved to Zamzam in search of safety, basic services and food since mid-May.
Conflict and lack of humanitarian access drive famine
“The main causes of famine in the Zamzam field are Conflict and lack of humanitarian accesstwo factors that can be resolved immediately with the necessary political will,” the Committee notes.
Restrictions on humanitarian access, including impediments imposed by the parties active in the conflict, have severely limited the ability of specialized organizations to expand assistance to populations in need.
The famine will worsen
The Committee warns that famine conditions “will worsen and prolong even further if the conflict continues and full humanitarian and commercial access is not permitted.”
The report contains the latest assessments of hunger in Sudan, but in previous publications the Committee had repeatedly warned of an impending famine at the beginning of this year.
The Committee plans a worsening of the situation at least until October due to continued lack of access to food, increased risk of infectious diseases and very limited access to health care and nutrition services.
Since conflict is the main driver of famine, the report recommends working extensively with the parties involved to reduce or resolve it.
“He Cessation of hostilities together with the sustained restoration of humanitarian access are essential to mitigate the deterioration of food security, nutrition and health conditions faced by populations in the town of El Fasher and throughout Sudan,” the Committee stressed.
More diseases on the horizon
In addition, it advances a increased risk of waterborne diseases, the possibility of a measles outbreak due to low vaccination coverage, and a higher incidence of malaria associated with the rainy season.
To avoid such calamities, the Committee recommended, among other things, that the parties to the conflict immediately stop any attacks on hospitals, aid groups and civilian infrastructure and that ensure unhindered access routes to and from the Greater Darfur states for humanitarian and commercial actors.
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