World ignores countdown to famine in Sudan, humanitarian charity warns
Port Sudan, Sudan (PANA) - An international humanitarian organization has lamented that although Sudan is currently witnessing the “world’s worst crisis”, still appeals made to mitigate the situation are “met with deafening silence”.
Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) Secretary General Jan Egeland said in a press release that a year and a half of war has triggered a relentless countdown towards a total collapse in Sudan, as more than 20 million suffer from raging violence, deepening hunger, and forced displacement.
"Twenty years ago, we had presidents and prime ministers engaged to stop atrocities in Darfur. There are today many times as many lives at stake – this is the world’s worst crisis -- but we are met with deafening silence. We must wake up the world before famine engulfs a generation of children.”
“I’ve just seen with my own eyes, in Darfur and in the east, the devastating result of indiscriminate attacks and senseless warfare," he said.
"Last month alone, more than 2,500 people were killed and more than 250,000 people newly displaced. Communities we serve tell us of appalling violence—entire villages destroyed, civilians executed, women raped, and homes lost to shelling and airstrikes. This is the scorched earth of Sudan in 2024, and we are dangerously close to a freefall into starvation and suffering. Delayed action and insufficient diplomatic efforts are compounding the agony of the Sudanese people. They need immediate, decisive action from the international community,” said Egeland, who has just ended an official visit to the Sudan,
Sudan’s conflict has triggered the largest displacement crisis in the world. Over 11 million people are uprooted within the country, and an additional three million are seeking refuge in Chad, Egypt, South Sudan, and other neighbouring nations.
“One in every five people in Sudan is displaced. The few remaining safe areas are bursting at the seams, with hundreds of families taking shelter in overcrowded camps and barely surviving on limited resources,” Egeland noted.
NRC chief said that across Sudan, extreme hunger is claiming lives every day. An estimated 24 million people—half the population—are in acute need of food, including 1.5 million on the edge of famine. Hunger and famine are tearing through urban centres and remote villages alike, with starvation now a reality in places like Khartoum, once the country's economic heart.
“The ongoing starvation here is a man-made tragedy,” stated Egeland. “In Darfur, I met women barely surviving, eating one meal of boiled leaves a day. The warring parties, who are obstructing access to these communities, bear direct responsibility for this catastrophe. This humanitarian crisis could be stopped at any moment.”
Despite urgent needs, both sides in the conflict continue to block aid access. “This is not an accident,” said Egeland. “The Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces cannot use hunger as a weapon. Each delay, every blocked truck, every authorisation delayed is a death sentence for families who can’t wait another day for food, water, and shelter. It is morally indefensible.”
The humanitarian response for Sudan is critically underfunded, leaving agencies including NRC with no choice but to make impossible decisions about whom to help.
“The humanitarian response has less than half of what is needed,” said Egeland. “Soup kitchens in Khartoum, a last lifeline for thousands, have now closed down because promised funds have not come through. As we struggle to keep up, our current resources are merely delaying deaths instead of preventing them.”
Despite the scale of the crisis, the global response has not led to change on the ground. “A tweet of concern is not enough,” added Egeland. “The world’s inaction is nothing short of a green light for further suffering. Sudan needs a global emergency response on par with the scale of this crisis. The world must not look away as millions teeter on the edge of famine and conflict devastates entire communities.”
-0- PANA MO/MA 22Nov2024
