Sudan is facing the “world’s largest hunger crisis” if the ongoing war does not soon come to an end, the United Nations agency has cautioned.
Cindy McCain, head of the World Food Program, recently visited the wartorn country, getting a first-hand glimpse into the northeastern African nation’s plight.
“The war in Sudan risks triggering the world’s largest hunger crisis,” she remarked.
According to the World Food Programme (WFP), more than 25 million people in Sudan, South Sudan and Chad are “trapped in a spiral” of food insecurity.
On April 15th, 2023, violence broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), displacing nearly 9 million people. The U.N. Security Council estimates that about 12,000 people have been killed across Sudan since the war erupted.
#Sudan is not the forgotten war it’s the ignored war
— dalliasd (@dalliasd) February 29, 2024
▪️18mn face acute food insecurity
▪️5mn in emergency hunger stage
▪️95% Sudanese in the country don’t have access to a one sufficient meal
▪️3.8mn children under 5 are suffering fm severe malnutrition https://t.co/Xph3ZwxbYx
Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan Saf’s leader and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo (head of RSF), commonly known as Hemedti, have grappled for power since former president Omar al-Bashir’s ousting.
In 1989, al-Bashir seized control of the government in a coup orchestrated by the National Islamic Front (NIF) (which was later renamed the National Congress Party (NCP) in 1998.) Before his unceremonious exit, al-Bashir dissolved the Sudanese government yesterday, naming Motazz Moussa the country’s new prime minister and tasked him with forming a new cabinet to help run the country. The move was an effort to ease tensions and boost the country’s ailing economy..
The country’s longstanding economic crisis began shortly after the Sudanese Civil War when South Sudan won independence and took approximately 75% of its oil reserves. During the war, 2 million people lost their lives from violence, disease and the war-induced famine which followed. The 22-year conflict was marked by numerous human rights violations, including slavery and mass killings, which led to heavy sanctions from the United Nations.
Recent assessments undertaken by the U.N. reveal that two out of three Sudanese lack access to healthcare, with approximately 19 million children out of school.
Last month, the U.N. appealed for $4.1 billion to manage the growing humanitarian needs of the Sudanese displaced from their homes and communities.
“If we start seeing famine in Sudan – and it won’t be the first time we’ve seen famine in Sudan – to add to the violence, displacement and lack of a political horizon, then I think we can all agree we have no humanity in us that would allow this to happen,” Martin Griffiths, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, told journalists in Geneva.
Sudan has also become a focal point of the war between Ukraine and Russia.
A recent report from the Wall Street Journal revealed that Ukrainian special forces had been involved in combat missions in Sudan against rebels and Russian military operations. Sudan’s military ruler, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, sought reinforcements from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following Russia’s discovery that Sudan had secretly supplied weapons to Ukraine in 2022.
????Ukrainian specialists are taking part in military operations in Sudan against Russian forces.
— Jürgen Nauditt ???????????????? (@jurgen_nauditt) March 6, 2024
"Such actions for Kiev are part of a strategy aimed at undermining Russia's military and economic operations abroad, making the war more expensive for Moscow, while positioning… pic.twitter.com/NexbVGNEW8
“For Ukraine, sending troops to Africa is an audacious new venture – part of a strategy to disrupt Russia’s military and economic operations abroad, make the war more costly for Moscow, and position itself as a bulwark against Russian incursions, including in regions where the West has been reluctant to get directly involved,” the report states.
