UNITED NATIONS, Nov 29 (IPS) – The humanitarian crisis in Sudan continues to worsen in consequence of the continued civil war in Sudan. Intensifying conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has led to widespread food insecurity, and many humanitarian organizations have expressed concerns that starvation is a technique of warfare. Moreover, the increased violence resulted in significant civilian losses.
According to A statement in keeping with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the civil war displaced greater than 11 million people, becoming one among the world’s largest displacement crises. Reports of widespread violations of international humanitarian law are significantly hampering relief efforts, deepening a pre-existing hunger crisis.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has declared that Sudan is in a state of emergency, natural disaster resulting from famine. According to the Integrated Food Security (IPC) phase classification, a complete of 25.6 million people suffer from acute hunger.
Hunger is worst in the Zamzam refugee camp, now one among the most important and most populated shelters for displaced people in Sudan. “Families in Zamzam are resorting to extreme measures to survive because food is scarce. They eat crushed peanut shells, which are usually fed to animals, and throughout the camp, parents mourn the deaths of malnourished children,” said Farhan Haq, deputy spokeswoman for the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General.
Additionally, soup kitchens across Sudan were closed en masse due to severe underfunding and a lack of humanitarian aid. Jan Egeland, chairman of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), spoke to reporters about the scale of suffering in Sudan due to famine, expressing the opinion that the warring sides are using hunger as a method of waging war. “It is an underfunded operation, even though it is the biggest emergency in the world. “The war will end when these warlords feel they have more to lose by continuing to fight than by acting wisely,” he said.
November test by the Sudan Research Group at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine indicates that the overall death toll has increased significantly following the armed conflict in Sudan. The report estimates that more than 61,000 people died in Khartoum state between April 2023 and June 2024, a 50 percent increase compared to the pre-war death toll.
It is also estimated that 26,000 deaths were a direct result of the violence, with hunger and disease becoming increasingly common causes of death in Khartoum. According to the report, the total death toll could well exceed these numbers because about 90 percent of all deaths in Sudan go unreported.
In addition to the damage caused by the two warring sides, smaller armed groups took part in looting and attacks. “Parties destroy their own houses and massacre their own citizens,” Egeland said.
Humanitarian organizations have expressed concern concerning the escalation of violence seen over the past few months. Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, predicts that under current circumstances, Sudan may experience a “Rwanda-style genocide.” Nderitu also added that there are reports of ethnic cleansing in El Fasher.
On November 26, WFP announced that it would increase the scale of assistance in the most famine-affected areas of Sudan after the Sudanese government issued permission to use the Adre border crossing.
“In total, the trucks will transport approximately 17,500 tons of food aid, enough to feed 1.5 million people for a month. In total, the trucks will transport approximately 17,500 tons of food aid, enough to feed 1.5 million people for a month,” WFP says. Sudanese spokeswoman Leni Kinzli.
However, given the widespread violence and the general scale of urgent needs, additional funding is urgently needed to alleviate the deepening humanitarian crisis. According to Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA) roughly 25 million people need humanitarian assistance, which is sort of half of the overall population. The UN Humanitarian Response Plan 2024 earmarks $2.7 billion to offer life-saving assistance to greater than 14 million affected people. The UN is asking for continued donor support as only 56 percent of the required funds have been raised.
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 - The humanitarian crisis in Sudan continues to deepen as a result of the ongoing Sudanese Civil War. Intensified conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has led to widespread food insecurity, with many humanitarian organizations expressing concern that starvation is being used as a method of warfare. Additionally, heightened violence has caused considerable civilian casualties.){kind=link}