Nearly 25.6 million people will face levels of acute food insecurity between June and September, study says
June 27 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Around 25.6 million Sudanese, more than half the population, will face acute food insecurity between June and September, including nearly 750,000 suffering catastrophic levels of food insecurity, according to three United Nations agencies, which have noted that fourteen areas of the country are at risk of famine, in the midst of the war that broke out in April 2023 between the Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) published this Thursday on the situation in Sudan reveals that the country is facing its worst levels of acute food insecurity recorded to date, with risk of famine in five locations and nine camps for displaced people and refugees.
Thus, the report states that a further increase in fighting would contribute to increasing the current restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid to the population and would further limit the possibility of Sudanese being able to access their jobs and crop fields during the harvest season.
The data thus reflect a “rapid and drastic” deterioration in the food situation compared to those recorded in December, with a 45 percent increase in the number of people facing acute food insecurity, from 17.7 to 25.6 million, and the appearance for the first time of people in a catastrophic situation.
The situation is “especially critical” for populations trapped in conflict zones, especially in the capital, Khartoum, and the regions of Darfur, Kordofan and Gezira. The conflict has also caused a massive displacement of the population, impacts on supply routes and agricultural production.
The report states that “conflict is likely to continue at least at current levels in key regions such as North Darfur, West and South Kordofan, Khartoum and Gezira” and that “displacement is expected to continue to increase, especially as the conflict expands into densely populated states such as Sennar, Gedaref, Kassala and White Nile.”
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Program (WFP) have warned of the deterioration of the living conditions of the Sudanese population, particularly children, given the worsening of the food crisis in the country, which is why they have reiterated their call for a ceasefire and an increase in the delivery of humanitarian aid.
“The new CPI analysis reveals a deepening and rapid deterioration of the food security situation in Sudan, with the lives of millions of people at risk,” said FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu, who detailed that the organization “is delivering seeds for the main growing season.”
THE WFP ALERTS THAT “TIME IS RUNNING OUT”
“The clock is ticking for Sudan’s farmers. FAO urgently needs $60 million (about €56 million) to cover unfunded parts of its Famine Prevention Plan to ensure that people, especially those in in inaccessible areas, are able to produce food locally and avoid food shortages in the next six months,” he explained. “We must act collectively, on a large scale, with unhindered access, for the sake of millions of innocent lives at stake,” she added.
The executive director of the WFP, Cindy McCain, has stressed that the organization’s team in Sudan “works day and night in dangerous conditions to deliver vital aid” and has noted that the figures in the report “confirm that time is running out at the hour to avoid famine. “For every person we have helped this year, eight others desperately need help,” she lamented.
“We urgently need a massive expansion of humanitarian access and funding so that we can expand our aid operations and stop Sudan’s slide into a humanitarian catastrophe that threatens to destabilize the entire region,” he warned.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell stressed that the figures “illustrate the devastating impact of the conflict in Sudan on the country’s children” and warned that “hunger and malnutrition are spreading at an alarming rate.”
“Without concerted international action and funding, there is a very real danger that the situation will spiral out of control. There is no time to lose. Any delay in unrestricted access to vulnerable populations will be measured in the loss of children’s lives.” Russell has argued.
The war broke out on April 15, 2023 due to strong disagreements regarding the integration process of the paramilitary group – now declared a terrorist organization – within the Armed Forces, a situation that caused the definitive derailment of the transition opened in 2019 after the overthrow of the Omar Hasan al Bashir regime.
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