United Nations officials urged the Security Council to facilitate humanitarian aid access in Sudan “across borders, battle lines, by air, and by land” to address the famine affecting at least one location in North Darfur.

Last month, the United States proposed that the 15-member Security Council authorise aid access through border crossings such as Adre from Chad.

However, Sudan’s army-aligned government and Russia, which holds veto power on the council, stated on Tuesday that Security Council intervention was unnecessary.

Sudan’s U.N. Ambassador, Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed, assured the council, “If there is a famine, we are prepared to cooperate and will open the crossings for any humanitarian aid. It is not this government, which I proudly represent, that is obstructing aid.”

Last week, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) reported that over 15 months of conflict and aid restrictions have led to famine conditions in the Zamzam camp for internally displaced people in North Darfur.

The Sudanese government has dismissed these findings, while Russia has cast doubt on their accuracy.

The conflict in Sudan began in mid-April of the previous year, triggered by a power struggle between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) just before a scheduled transition to civilian rule.

Zamzam, located in an area that remains a major RSF stronghold in Darfur, has been under siege for months, with no aid reaching the large camp.

Senior U.N. aid official Edem Wosornu told the Security Council on Tuesday, “When famine occurs, it signifies that we are already too late. It means we have not done enough and that the international community has failed.”

Transboundary Access
The government blocked aid deliveries through the Adre border crossing in February, citing its use by the RSF for weapon transfers.

Wosornu noted that Adre “would be the most effective route for delivering aid quickly and at the necessary scale during this critical time.”

She also mentioned that the U.N.’s $2.7 billion aid appeal for Sudan was only 32% funded.

Senior U.N. World Food Programme official Stephen Omollo emphasised the urgent need for a ceasefire and urged the council to support effective aid operations without interference, including access through Adre and other cross-border routes.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield has proposed that the Security Council consider a resolution to authorise cross-border aid deliveries into Sudan, similar to measures taken for Syria.

From 2014 to 2023, the Security Council approved aid deliveries from neighbouring countries to millions in opposition-held areas of Syria due to the Syrian government’s refusal to authorise the operations.
However, diplomats have indicated that no such resolution is forthcoming. On Tuesday, Russia’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy argued that the international community should not intervene in Sudan’s internal affairs under the pretext of a humanitarian crisis, nor dictate which aid corridors should be opened.
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