UN Warns of Looming Hunger Crisis in Sudan Conflict

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that the ongoing conflict in Sudan, involving the military and paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF), could lead to the world’s largest hunger crisis. The conflict has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, crippling the economy and destroying infrastructure.

Over eight million people have been uprooted, causing the world’s largest displacement crisis. The humanitarian response is at a breaking point, with an increasing number of people fleeing Sudan into neighbouring South Sudan and Chad. The WFP reports that 18 million people across Sudan face acute hunger, with five million at catastrophic levels.

Currently, 90% of those facing emergency levels of hunger cannot be reached, and only 5% of Sudan’s population can afford a square meal a day. The WFP has called on the warring parties to stop fighting and allow aid agencies to provide life-saving assistance, stating that the escalating food insecurity will have a significant long-term impact on the region.

The WFP has also appealed for an injection of funding to respond to the humanitarian crisis’s spread to neighboring countries.