West warns of famine risk in Sudan as civil war grinds on
The United States and 30 other Western countries have warned of a worsening food security crisis in Sudan, urging the rival sides in the country’s civil war to remove barriers to humanitarian assistance to avert famine.
In a joint statement, the countries said the conflict remained the primary cause of hunger, destroying critical infrastructure and disrupting food production across the country.
Yusuf Roble, Regional Director for Islamic Relief East Africa, told BBC Newsday that many people returning to Omdurman were discovering that their homes had been destroyed or looted, leaving them with little to sustain themselves.
The war, which erupted in April 2023, has displaced approximately 14 million people.
The statement, signed by the United States, European Union member states, the United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland and Norway, was published by the US State Department on Monday after initially appearing on the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations website.
According to the statement, an estimated 19.5 million people, representing 41% of Sudan’s population, are experiencing severe levels of acute food insecurity, with five million facing emergency levels of hunger.
Roble recounted the plight of a mother of seven who had been uncertain about her husband’s whereabouts for three and a half years. He said the man had been the family’s sole breadwinner, leaving the woman struggling to provide for her children.
Although the World Health Organization has described the conflict as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, Roble said only 40% of Sudan’s 2026 humanitarian response plan had been funded as of September.
He added that many affected families depended on community kitchens for meals, but these facilities were also struggling to secure sustained funding because of cuts in financial support.
The joint statement warned that the number of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition could exceed the projected 825,000 if urgent action was not taken.
The situation has been worsened by what the signatories described as systematic restrictions on humanitarian aid, alongside the effects of El Niño, which have reduced rainfall and intensified drought conditions across more than half of Sudan.
The countries said the warring parties bore primary responsibility for reducing the suffering of Sudanese citizens and called on them to remove all obstacles to humanitarian assistance, ensuring aid workers could operate safely and deliver supplies rapidly and without restrictions.
In June, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which assesses the severity of food crises, estimated that 5.1 million people in Sudan were facing severe hunger.
Sudan’s civil war began in April 2023 following a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
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