Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan reiterates need for urgent intervention as experts confirm famine conditions

(Port Sudan, 2 August 2024) – The humanitarian community in Sudan is appealing for urgent resources and unimpeded humanitarian access following a new report confirming localized famine conditions in North Darfur. On 1 August, the IPC Famine Review Committee, a team of leading independent international food security, nutrition and mortality experts confirmed with reasonable evidence that the ongoing conflict in Sudan has pushed communities in North Darfur State, notably in the Zamzam camp near the state capital Al Fasher, into famine (IPC Phase 5).

“The United Nations and its partners in Sudan take note of these findings, which reflect the gravity of the humanitarian situation on the ground,” said Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan. “The people of Sudan have suffered relentlessly since conflict broke out more than 15 months ago. This is a man-made crisis, one which can be resolved if all parties and stakeholders uphold their responsibilities and commitments to the populations in desperate need. The humanitarian community in Sudan has been ringing the alarm about the unfolding hunger catastrophe and the risk of famine while conflict has raged on, causing displacement, disrupting basic services, destroying livelihoods and severely restricting humanitarian access.”

In its report, the FRC analysis concluded that famine conditions are ongoing in Zamzam Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDP) camp in North Darfur as of June and July 2024 and are likely to persist into August through October 2024. The FRC added that it is also plausible that similar conditions are likely affecting other IDP sites in the Al Fasher area in North Darfur, particularly the Abu Shouk and Al Salam camps, saying there is an urgent need to assess these locations.

People are likely experiencing similar conditions in the other 13 areas at risk of famine that were listed in the IPC analysis released in June 2024. The analysis highlighted that Sudan faced the worst levels of acute food insecurity in its history, with more than half of its population – 25.6 million people – in acute hunger. That includes more than 8.5 million people facing emergency levels of hunger (IPC 4), as well as more than 755,000 people who are in catastrophic conditions (IPC 5) in Greater Darfur, South and North Kordofan, Blue Nile, Al Jazirah, and Khartoum.

“We have been scaling up our response over recent months, but the needs are immense – and there isn’t a moment to waste,” the Humanitarian Coordinator said. “The humanitarian community is pushing ahead on multiple fronts, including urgently moving food, nutrition and health supplies and agricultural inputs to the highest risk areas; ramping up cash assistance to communities in need; and scaling up presence where hunger is most acute,” she added. “But to do this, we need the guns to be silenced to enable humanitarians to reach the people in need. We need an urgent injection of funding for the aid operation as well as safe and unimpeded humanitarian access, including across borders and battle lines.” More than 125 humanitarian organizations are on the ground, having supported nearly 8 million people with some form of humanitarian aid between January and June 2024.

Despite the tremendous need, aid workers continue to face major humanitarian access challenges, including active conflict, insecurity and systematic obstructions such as deliberate denials of access. The ongoing rainy season is further constraining access; Tine crossing – the only cross-border route available for humanitarian movements from Chad into Darfur since the Adre crossing was closed in February 2024 – is largely impassable due to flooding. Movement across conflict lines, to parts of Khartoum, Darfur, AjJazirah and Kordofan, has been also severely restricted and in some cases cut off for many months.

As of 1 August, the Sudan humanitarian appeal, seeking $2.7 billion, is just 32 per cent funded. This is leaving major funding gaps, including for local organizations who are on the forefront of response efforts. “To stop a large-scale famine from taking hold, donors must urgently scale up their financial support while using diplomatic means to push for opening up of humanitarian access,” said the Humanitarian Coordinator. “If not, we will see an even more catastrophic situation unfold.”

For more information, please contact: Tapiwa Gomo, gomo@un.org; +249 91 217 0418