Major relief agencies have issued a stark warning that time is running out for millions in Sudan who face an imminent risk of famine due to ongoing conflicts obstructing aid deliveries.
Nineteen global humanitarian organisations, including 12 United Nations agencies, urged Sudan’s warring parties on Friday to stop obstructing food aid, emphasising the critical need to reach millions suffering from severe hunger.
Jens Laerke, a representative for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), informed journalists in Geneva that the leaders of these agencies are concerned that many of Sudan’s 18 million people suffering from acute hunger, including 3.6 million children, will die if the blocked aid pipeline isn’t reopened.
“If they continue to be prevented from providing aid in Sudan rapidly and at scale, a famine will likely take hold in large parts of the country. More people will flee to neighbouring countries.
“Children will succumb to disease and malnutrition, and women and girls will face even greater suffering and dangers.”
UNICEF highlights that acutely malnourished children face up to 11 times higher mortality rates than well-nourished children. Sudan, embroiled in its second year of conflict between rival military factions, harbours the largest population of internally displaced individuals globally.
Nearly 10 million people are displaced within the country, with an additional two million seeking refuge in neighbouring nations, according to the U.N.
“Attacks against civilians, including sexual violence, are multiplying, and hospitals and schools are also coming under attack,” Laerke said. “At the same time, aid workers face systematic obstructions and deliberate denials of access by parties to the conflict.
“Movements across conflict lines to parts of Khartoum, Darfur, Al Jazirah and Kordofan have been cut off since mid-December.”
The Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, chaired by Martin Griffiths, U.N. emergency relief coordinator, voiced concerns over the dire state of food production this year amidst worsening hunger.
They stressed the urgent need to swiftly provide seeds to farmers before the main planting season ends and the rainy season begins.
Timely distribution of seeds they emphasised, would empower people, especially those in remote regions, to cultivate food locally and stave off food shortages in the coming six months.
Otherwise, they warn, “People will go hungry and be forced to move in search of food, shelter, and protection. Let us be clear: If we are prevented from providing aid rapidly and at scale, more people will die.”
Laerke highlighted the precarious situation in El Fasher, the state capital in western Darfur, stating that over 800,000 civilians are facing an impending large-scale attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces to seize control of the city, which is the last stronghold of the Sudanese Armed Forces in Darfur.
He cautioned that such a scenario “would unleash catastrophic humanitarian consequences both in the city and across Darfur.”
In an official communication released on Thursday, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, expressed concern that “the noose of war is tightening its stranglehold on a civilian population that is under attack from all sides.”
She further stated that she has received alarming reports indicating that medical facilities, displacement camps, and critical civilian infrastructure have been targeted by parties to the conflict and that much of the population “has limited access to basic necessities and essential services, including food and health care”.
Laerke from OCHA noted that since February, the transfer of humanitarian aid from Chad into Darfur has “ceased”.
He emphasised the urgent need for all available means to be utilised “to deliver food and essential aid into Darfur and other critical areas in Sudan” without delay.
He acknowledged the perilous conditions surrounding aid delivery. “A few days ago, a staff member of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) was killed in his home, and other aid workers have faced harassment and injuries,” he stated.
“This situation must cease, and it is crucial for aid workers to operate in a safe and secure environment, ensuring that people can receive the assistance they desperately need.”
He expressed disappointment that SAF and RSF generals have yet to resume peace negotiations, urging them to seek peaceful solutions instead of resorting to violence that causes harm to countless Sudanese.
In its statement, the standing committee lamented Sudan’s overlooked crisis status, noting that despite being nearly five months into the year and six weeks post the UN’s international pledging conference for Sudan, only 16 percent of the required $2.7 billion has been received.
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