Sudan: Over a dozen more areas at risk of famine as fighting impedes aid

This article is published in association with United Nations.

With famine confirmed in the Zamzam displacement camp in Sudan’s North Darfur, there are growing concerns that similar crises may be unfolding in other nearby camps, an official with the UN emergency food relief agency (WFP) said on Wednesday, in an interview with UN News.

The Zamzam camp houses about 500,000 displaced persons and is located near North Dufur’s besieged capital, El Fasher, which has witnessed some of the fiercest fighting since the start of the war between rival militaries Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) last April.

An estimated 10.7 million people have been displaced within Sudan, and a further 2.1 million have sought refuge in neighbouring countries. The fighting has also precipitated an acute hunger crisis, with almost 26 million struggling to secure daily meals.  

Access very difficult

In an exclusive interview with UN News, Leni Kinzli, Head of Communications at the World Food Programme (WFP) in Sudan, told Abdelmonem Makki that as many as 13 other areas across the war-ravaged country are also at risk of famine.

These are areas with active conflicts such as in Darfur, Kordofan and Khartoum, which are worsening by the day and making assessments very difficult, she said.

“Access to the camps that are inside El Fasher, where fighting continues to intensify day by day between the paramilitary RSF and the SAF, make it extremely difficult to access,” she added.

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Catastrophic hunger in Khartoum

She said that some 90,000 are facing catastrophic levels of hunger in the capital Khartoum, which just 18 months ago was bustling city without concerns over food security.  

“Now there are areas in Khartoum where we are hearing that people are just surviving on mixing whatever kind of cereals they have with water and drinking that once per day to survive.”

Ramping up assistance

WFP is ramping up emergency assistance efforts, focusing on those suffering from severe hunger across the country. The agency aims to reach and support up to 8.4 million people by the end of the year.

“We are now aiming to provide around 100,000 hot meals per month and continuing to build off of that to increase the assistance. We have also registered a longer list of financial service providers through which we can provide cash-based assistance,” Ms. Kinzli said.

“[However,] one of the challenges with cash-based assistance since the onset of this crisis has been the liquidity and banking crisis that has also struck Sudan,” she added.

The agency is also helping set up community kitchens and working with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

“We are looking at every means to get assistance to people who need it in both in-kind emergency food rations as well as through cash and also working through community kitchens,” she said.

We cannot give up hope

Ms. Kinzli emphasized the world cannot give up hope when it comes to the Sudan crisis, stressing that “we certainly can deliver at the scale required”.

“If we can get assistance to these areas, especially to people who are trapped by conflict and especially to the areas that are at risk of famine, we can prevent many deaths and we can prevent mass starvation and widespread malnutrition,” she said.

At the same time, the warring parties should keep the interests of Sudanese people at heart, she urged.  

“No matter what, WFP will continue to do whatever we can, no matter the circumstances, to support and provide assistance to people where they need it the most.”