The war that has been going on in Sudan between the army and the Rapid Support Forces for about 11 months has taken its toll on the country, which is already suffering from a refugee and food crisis.
The World Food Program warned that this ongoing war “may create the largest hunger crisis in the world” in a country that is already witnessing the largest displacement crisis at the international level.
Displacement of 8 million
Director of the World Food Program, Cindy McCain, said that the battles, which left thousands dead and displaced eight million people, “threaten the lives of millions and threaten peace and
stability in the entire region,” according to what Agence France- Presse reported on Wednesday.
She also stressed that unless the violence stops, “the war in Sudan may create the largest hunger crisis in the world.”
The Sudanese are forgotten
In addition, she pointed out that “twenty years ago, Darfur witnessed the largest hunger crisis in the world, and the world at that time united its efforts to confront it, but the Sudanese are forgotten today.”
As for South Sudan, where 600,000 people have taken refuge to escape the war, “one in every five children in shelters at the border suffers from malnutrition,” according to McCain.
Doctors Without Borders had previously confirmed that a child dies every two hours in Zamzam refugee camp in Darfur.
It is noteworthy that since the outbreak of bloody confrontations between the two military forces in mid-April (2023), the bombing of civilians, the destruction of infrastructure, looting, forced displacement, and the burning of villages have become daily practices suffered by 48 million Sudanese.
Meanwhile, 18 million Sudanese suffered from severe food insecurity, and five million of them were on the brink of famine, while the humanitarian relief workers who helped them suffered from difficulties in movement and a significant lack of funding.
According to the World Food Program, less than “5% of Sudanese can provide themselves with a full meal” at the present time.
As the conflict in Sudan has raged for a year now, the United Nations World Food Program has warned of a “hunger catastrophe” if food aid is not expanded to include those trapped as a result of the war.
A statement quoted the representative of the World Food Program in Sudan, as calling “urgently on all parties to the conflict to reach a humanitarian truce to avoid the catastrophe of hunger.”
In parallel, an analysis of food security in Sudan, which was previously described as “the future breadbasket of East Africa,” according to the UN agency, showed recording “the highest levels of hunger ever” during the harvest season in the period from October to February, which usually During which food is available.
“About 24.7 million people need humanitarian aid,” meaning half of the country’s population.
The United Nations recorded more than 15,000 deaths as a result of the battles, but this number is likely much less than the actual number of victims of the war, which also led to the displacement of about seven million people inside and outside the country, which constitutes “the largest displacement in the world.”
