Sudan: UN experts warn against using starvation as war weapon
June 26, 2024 (GENEVA) – The United Nations experts have warned the rival factions in Sudan’s ongoing conflict to stop using starvation as a weapon for war.
Aid agencies say more than 25 million civilians in Sudan and fleeing the country are being starved and require urgent humanitarian assistance because of the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The UN experts, in a statement issued Wednesday, expressed concerns that humanitarian aid is being blocked and the harvest season has been disrupted due to the armed conflict, making widespread famine imminent in the coming months.
“Both the SAF and the RSF are using food as a weapon and starving civilians,” the experts said.
More than 9 million people have been displaced within and outside Sudan since war broke out between the RSF and SAF in mid-April 2023, aid agencies say, with the majority of those affected being women, children and the elderly.
The fighting initially started in Khartoum, but quickly expanded across the country.
The ongoing siege in El-Fasher has already left hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped, suffering from severe hunger and thirst due to a lack of food and water.
“The extent of hunger and displacement we see in Sudan today is unprecedented and never witnessed before,” the experts noted.
“The SAF and RSF must stop blocking, looting and exploiting humanitarian assistance.” It added.
Acknowledging the role of volunteers and activists in the conflict, the experts said deliberate targeting of humanitarian workers and local volunteers has undermined aid operations, putting millions of people at further risk of starvation.
“Local responders are risking their health and lives and working across battle lines,” the experts stated.
Also cautioned are foreign governments allegedly providing financial and military support to both parties involved in the ongoing conflict in Sudan.
They are “complicit in starvation, crimes against humanity and war crimes”.
Meanwhile the experts expressed concerns that despite pledges from the donor community, funding for the humanitarian response plan remains low and insufficient to meet current needs. International donors and governments have reportedly been reluctant to support local efforts of humanitarian assistance.
“The UN and international donors must recognise the limits of traditional international humanitarian relief in the context of Sudan and be more creative by devoting more support to humanitarian organisations working locally,” the experts stressed.
The experts called on parties to the conflict to agree to an immediate ceasefire and inclusive political negotiations, while also urging the international community to increase funding with flexible terms to support local civil society initiatives and increase pressure on parties to the conflict to ensure unrestricted access for aid delivery and urge them to cease attacks, arrests, movement restrictions, and killings of local responders, they said.
“The dire situation in Sudan needs greater visibility and accelerated humanitarian action,” the experts concluded.
(ST)