UN official warns of imminent famine in Sudan

June 18, 2024 (NEW YORK) – The United Nations on Tuesday expressed concerns over the escalation of violence in Sudan, saying famine is imminent in the country.

While briefing the Security Council, Edem Wosornu, Director of Operations and Advocacy, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said focus should be made on critical needs for immediate and decisive action.

“Famine is imminent. Almost 5 million people face emergency levels of food insecurity”, she said.

The UN official said she was concerned about the lives of 800,000 women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities in El Fasher, North Darfur State.

“What we are witnessing in El Fasher is the result of unrestrained and indiscriminate violence with little regard for the tremendous misery and suffering caused,” she said.

Wosornu said over 2 million people in 41 hunger hotspots are at high risk of slipping into catastrophic hunger in the coming weeks, warning that “7,000 new mothers could die in the next few months if they don’t get access to food and healthcare.”

She expressed concerns that the humanitarian appeal is severely underfunded.

“We have so far received $441 million — a measly 16% of our total $2.7 billion requirement,” Wosornu stressed.

She reiterated the importance of protecting civilians and infrastructure, while calling for increased humanitarian access and more funding for aid operations.

Meanwhile, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee expressed concern over the escalating violence, especially in El Fasher.

“Despite efforts by the UN, its member states, and regional organizations, we have not succeeded in preventing the escalation of violence in the country and notably in El Fasher,” she said.

Pobee emphasized the significance of Security Council resolution 2736 in 2024, which was recently adopted, amid calls for an end to the military confrontation.

She warned of atrocities along ethnic lines and severe shelling in populated areas.

“The human rights situation remains appalling,” she said, urging justice for victims.

Pobee called for dialogue among all the parties involved in the conflict in Sudan.

Similarly, Limiaa Ahmed, the Senior Programme Director at the Sudan Family Planning Association, also highlighted the situation of women and girls in the war.

She said the conflict is a war on women, having fled the war-torn country in 2023.

“Sudanese women have paid the price of this war with their lives and with their bodies,” she observed. They face the risk of sexual violence and exploitation in displacement, in transit, in temporary shelters and at border crossings. In areas controlled by the Rapid Support Forces, they have been abducted and held in “inhumane and degrading slave-like conditions”, said Ahmed

She said her organization has delivered over 33 million sexual and reproductive health services, through its 15 branches across Sudan over the last 12 months.

Women-led organizations have spared no efforts to assist those affected by gender-based violence, Ahmed said, stressing that without them, there can be no peace in the country.

(ST)