More than half of Sudan’s population is acutely food insecure, UN says

About 8.1 million people face imminent starvation due to the war's escalation and restricted access to critical regions

Robaika Peter, 25, holds her severely malnourished child at the paediatric ward of the Mother of Mercy Hospital in Sudan. Reuters

More than 30 million people need aid in Sudan, the UN said on Monday, warning of a crisis in “staggering proportions”. War between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces militia since April 2023 has ravaged Sudan, driving the African nation towards famine.

“Sudan remains in the grip of a humanitarian crisis of staggering proportions,” Edem Wosornu, UN director for humanitarian affairs, told the Security Council in New York. “Hunger and starvation are spreading because of the decisions being made each day to continue to prosecute this war, irrespective of the civilian cost.”

Ms Wosornu described the need in Sudan as unprecedented and called for “an unprecedented mobilisation of international support".

Beth Bechdol, deputy director general of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, urged member states to do more diplomatically and financially: “If we fail to act now, collectively and at scale, millions of lives are even further at risk."

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global hunger-monitoring body, reported last month that famine conditions are already present in five regions of Sudan, with five more expected to succumb by May.

The UN said about 8.1 million people face imminent starvation due to the war and restricted access to critical regions. Tens of thousands have died and more than eight million have been internally displaced in Sudan, creating the world's largest displacement crisis. Including the 2.7 million displaced before the conflict, the total exceeds 10.7 million.

And 3.3 million have sought refuge across Sudan's borders, meaning more than 25 per cent of the nation's pre-war population is now displaced.

After the IPC's findings, the Sudanese government halted its participation in the monitoring programme, disputing the famine data.

Sudan’s ambassador to the UN, Al Harith Mohamed, denied there was a famine, asserting: “The truth is not that Sudan suffers a famine, but it's a fabricated famine.”

“Agriculture in Sudan represents more than 16 per cent of our local food production, and the average farmland is about 26 million hectares," Mr Mohamed said. "Our difference with the IPC is not just the academic controversy, but it's a difference on the statistics and the data collected."

US envoy Linda Thomas-Greenfield called the Sudanese authorities’ decision to suspend their collaboration with the IPC as “simply unacceptable”.

“Sudan is experiencing one of the greatest human crises not only of the day, but our lifetime," Ms Thomas-Greenfield said. "We can quibble over what we call it, but none of us can quibble over the fact that people are suffering in Sudan."

She urged Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council to “immediately” re-engage with the IPC and “take affirmative steps” to address the widespread food insecurity.

“Refusal to co-operate will only disrupt donor efforts and further damage Sudan’s credibility with respect to its humanitarian obligations under international law,” Ms Thomas-Greenfield said in her final appearance before the UN Security Council.

She said Washington will continue to work tirelessly to “prevent abuses and hold perpetrators to account”, and urged all council members to do the same.