Civil society groups call for UN to declare severe famine in Sudan

January 30, 2024 (CAIRO) – In a stark warning, a Sudanese civil society group has called on the United Nations and its humanitarian agencies to declare a state of severe famine in Sudan at a national level.

The statement from Fikra for Studies and Development, released on January 29, paints a grim picture of a country teetering on the brink of catastrophe. According to the group, more than 60% of Sudan’s population, or 24 million people, are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance. Of these, nearly 50%, or 19.9 million, are in need of food aid, with 17.7 million in acute need.

This devastating situation is rooted in a combination of factors, including the ongoing civil war, displacement of millions, scarcity of agricultural inputs, and the destruction of food infrastructure. The ongoing conflict has ravaged Sudan’s agricultural sector, with attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) destroying vast swathes of farmland and disrupting supply chains.

The impact of these factors is particularly acute in areas directly affected by the conflict, such as West Darfur (60% of the population in acute food shortage) and South Kordofan (48%). However, even regions not directly involved in the fighting are not spared, with 43% of the population in Kassala state facing food shortages.

The situation has been further exacerbated by the repeated looting of World Food Programme (WFP) warehouses by the RSF, the most recent incident occurring on December 28, 2023. This theft of food stocks meant to feed 1.5 million Sudanese civilians for a month is a blatant act of cruelty and further highlights the gravity of the crisis.

Fikra’s statement concludes with a desperate plea for the UN and its humanitarian partners to declare a state of severe famine in Sudan and take immediate action to address the crisis. The group also urges the international community to provide more funding for Sudan’s nutrition sector, which currently has a 75.9% financing gap.

These calls for action echo the recent statement by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which stated on January 26 that 10.7 million people have been displaced by conflicts in Sudan, with nine million of these displaced within the country. The UN agency called for concerted international efforts to urgently scale up humanitarian response to this unprecedented displacement crisis.