The World Food Programme (WFP) said on Thursday that it is struggling to keep emergency operations running in Sudan, where more than 1,000 days of war have pushed families to the brink.
Sudans protracted conflict has spiralled into one of the worlds most severe humanitarian crises, with hunger, displacement and the collapse of basic services exacting a daily toll on civilians.
The UN agency has reached 10 million vulnerable people with food, cash and nutrition assistance since the conflictbeganand continues to deliver aid to an average of four million people monthly, including in previously hard to reach areas in theDarfur and the Kordofanregionsas well as Khartoum and Al Jazira states.
However, thesehard-earned gains now risk being reversed, said Ross Smith, Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response, asWFPhas been forced to reducerationsto the absolute minimum.
By the end of March, we will have depleted our food stocks in Sudan, he warned.
Millions going hungry
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and military rivals the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in a battle for power since mid-April 2023, creating the worlds largest hunger and displacement crisis.
More than21 million peopleare not getting enough to eat,andfamine has been confirmed in parts of the country wherehumanitarian access is practically impossible.
The fighting has forcednearly12million peopleto flee their homesandseek shelterwhetherelsewhere in Sudan,or across the border.
Furthermore, some3.7 million childrenand pregnant and breastfeeding mothers are malnourished.Recent surveys have documented record levels of malnutritionin some locationsofNorth Darfur,where up tomore than halfofallyoung children areaffected.
We can turn the tide
WFP has teamsin Sudanand the access to scale up and save more lives,yetfundingremainsa challengeand $700 millionis urgently neededto continue operationsthroughJune.
In the past six months,WFP has provided regularassistancetonearly1.8million peoplein famine areas or where the threat exists, which has helped to push back hunger in nine locations.
Recentbreakthroughshaveincludeda joint UN convoy into Kadugli in Octoberone of theareas where families have been cut off from aid for months.
One thousand days of conflict is one thousand days too many.Every single day that fighting continues, families are falling deeper intohungerand communities are pushed further to the brink,saidMr.Smith.
We can turn the tide and avert famine conditions spreading further, but only if we have the funding to support these most vulnerable families.
