WFP warns window is closing to prevent famine in war-torn Sudan

United Nations — The World Food Program warned Wednesday that the threat of famine is growing for 5 million Sudanese in parts of the country affected by war.

“Commitments made by all parties to facilitate humanitarian access urgently need to be translated into realities on the ground,” Carl Skau, WFP’s deputy executive director, said in a statement.

Skau just returned from a mission to Sudan this week. He said the situation is “desperate and quickly deteriorating.”

“Only a few weeks remain to stock up food supplies in parts of Darfur and Kordofan before the rainy season starts and many roads become impassable,” he said. “Farmers also need to safely reach their farmlands to plant ahead of the rains.”

The rainy season in Sudan is from June through July.

In spite of fighting, border closures, checkpoints and other challenges, WFP says it is currently reaching some 2.5 million Sudanese with assistance.

Sudan was thrown into war 13 months ago, when fighting broke out in the capital, Khartoum, between the leaders of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The two generals were once allies in Sudan’s transitional government after a 2021 coup but have become rivals for power.

The fighting has since spread to other parts of the country, forcing almost 9 million people from their homes in search of safety. Two million of them have fled Sudan to neighboring countries. Of those who remain, 25 million need humanitarian assistance.

WFP says at least 5 million Sudanese are on the brink of starvation, but the number could be significantly higher, as the most recent data is from December. 

The food agency has identified 41 hunger “hot spots” that are at high risk of slipping into famine in the coming month — most of them in hard-to-reach conflict-affected areas, including the Darfur and Kordofan regions and Khartoum.   

Escalation in North Darfur

The United Nations has been raising the alarm on the situation in North Darfur for weeks. The RSF has reportedly started in recent days to move in on SAF forces inside El Fasher, the regional capital, endangering more than 800,000 civilians in the city.

On Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the parties to immediately stop the fighting and resume cease-fire negotiations.

El Fasher is the only city in Darfur that the RSF has not captured. A full-scale battle there could unleash atrocities similar to those of the genocide carried out by Arab Janjaweed fighters against African Zaghawa, Masalit, Fur and other non-Arab ethnic groups in Darfur in the early 2000s. Janjaweed fighters make up today's RSF.

The United Nations estimates 330,000 people are facing crisis levels of food insecurity in El Fasher due to a shortage of food items and soaring prices.

Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, said the weekend clashes in El Fasher reportedly caused dozens of civilian casualties and more displacement, with many residents seeking safety in the southern part of the city. She said aid cannot get through.

“More than a dozen trucks carrying health, nutrition and other critical supplies for more than 120,000 people have been trying to reach the city for weeks,” she told reporters at the United Nations on Wednesday. “They set out from Port Sudan on the 3rd of April — and still can’t reach El Fasher due to insecurity and delays in getting clearances at checkpoints.”

Doctors Without Borders, or Médecins Sans Frontières, supports a hospital in El Fasher that is overwhelmed and running low on supplies.

“Until now, North Darfur had been a relatively safe haven compared to other parts of Darfur,” Dr. Prince Djuma Safari, deputy medical coordinator in El Fasher for MSF, said in a statement. “Now, there are snipers in the streets, heavy shelling is taking place, and nowhere in the city is safe at all.”

He said more than 450 casualties, including women and children, had arrived at the MSF-supported South Hospital in El Fasher since fighting began on Friday. He said 56 of the patients had died and 40 more are still waiting for surgery.