In the Darfur region of Sudan, a humanitarian crisis of alarming scale is looming. The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) recently issued a warning, stressing that time is running out to avoid a devastating famine. Increasingly intense fighting around North Darfur’s capital, El Fasher, is hampering efforts to provide vital food assistance to the region.
Unfortunately, this situation is exacerbated by bureaucratic obstacles and ongoing clashes, making regular delivery of food aid to civilians difficult. The town of El Fasher, home to many camps for long-term displaced people, faces devastating levels of hunger. Reports of child deaths linked to malnutrition have emerged, drawing attention to a pressing humanitarian emergency.
For more than a year, Sudan has been plagued by conflicts, which exploded after tensions between the army and the Rapid Support Forces. The situation in El Fasher was relatively stable, but recent clashes have disrupted aid convoys from Chad’s Tine border, a recently opened humanitarian route through the North Darfur capital.
Leni Kinzli, WFP spokesperson in Sudan, highlights the urgency of unhindered humanitarian access to conflict zones in Sudan. She stresses the need to use the Adre border crossing point to deliver aid from the eastern port of Port Sudan to Darfur to reach the region’s population before the rainy season .
Nearly two million people in Darfur are currently in a food emergency, facing critical levels of hunger. Kinzli recently received photos from colleagues on the ground showing severely malnourished children in a displaced persons camp in Central Darfur, as well as elderly people.
The situation is alarming, as desperate populations are reduced to consuming grass and peanut shells to survive. Without rapid intervention, the specter of widespread famine and mass deaths looms over Darfur and other conflict-affected areas in Sudan.
WFP urges the international community to make concerted diplomatic efforts to press warring parties to ensure access and safety for humanitarian workers and convoys. It is imperative to act quickly to avoid an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in this tormented region of Sudan.