UN 
The United Nations (UN) World Food Program (WFP) reported that Sudan is on track to become the country with the worst hunger crisis and that time is running out to prevent hunger.
WFP Sudan Spokesperson Leni Kinzli made statements to journalists at the UN daily press conference.
Kinzli reported that escalating fighting in Al-Fasher is hampering aid delivery and civilians in the region are facing dire levels of hunger.
Kinzli warned that time is running out to avert hunger, yet food aid is being held up by conflict, access barriers and bureaucratic delays.
Kinzli reported that they tried to reach 700,000 people before the rainy season started and while the roads were still usable, and that they had 8,000 tons of food stocks in Chad, but could not distribute due to restrictions.
Underlining WFP’s urgent demand for unhindered access and security assurances, Kinzli pointed out that the escalating conflict in El Fasher has deeply affected 1.7 million people who are already suffering from hunger.
Kinzli noted that many people fled to Al-Fasher because it is a relatively safe area.
“The conflict in Sudan has led to a horrific hunger disaster in one year and is on track to become the world’s worst hunger crisis,” Kinzli said, adding that some 28 million people in Sudan and South Sudan face food insecurity.
Kinzli called on the international community to take action and reminded the parties in Sudan of their obligation to abide by international humanitarian law.
- War in Sudan
The power struggle between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (SSF), which staged a joint coup against the government formed with the participation of civilians after the popular uprising that toppled the 30-year rule of Omar al-Bashir in Sudan, has been going on for a year.
The war, which began in mid-April 2023 and lasted in 10 of Sudan’s 18 states, saw the army control the northern and eastern states, while the NLD took control of the western and southern states.
The Jeddah talks mediated by Saudi Arabia and the United States, the Egyptian-led peace initiative of Sudan’s neighboring countries, the efforts of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development in East Africa (IGAD) and the talks held in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, to end the war have all failed.
According to the UN, more than 15,000 people have been killed, around 8.5 million people have been displaced and more than 25 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance as a result of the conflict in Sudan, where the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis is taking place. (AA)
