UNHCR Calls for immediate action as famine declared in Sudan’s North Darfur News
RomanDeckert, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
UNHCR Calls for immediate action as famine declared in Sudan’s North Darfur

UNCHR Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Sudan situation Mamadou Dian Balde said Friday that famine has now been officially declared in Sudan’s North Darfur region and urged action after famine conditions have been confirmed in North Darfur’s Zamzam camp where “nearly 26 million people are struggling to put enough food on their plates every single day,” according to the World Food Program.

In the statement, Balde said, “The warning signs were there for months yet there is now confirmation of famine in Sudan. Such a tragedy for the civilians caught in the conflict – many of them displaced several times over. This brutal war must end & humanitarians need access to deliver urgently needed aid.” 

This comes as The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification’s (IPC) Famine Review Committee confirms in its recently released report there is an ongoing famine in North Darfur, a place with “220,000 displaced people.” The IPC noted in a statement, “After a careful review of the recent IPC analyses conducted by FEWS NET and the Sudan IPC Technical Working Group (TWG), the Famine Review Committee (FRC) of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has concluded that famine conditions are prevalent in parts of North Darfur, including the Zamzam camp south of El Fasher.” The IPC continued, “The escalating violence in Sudan, which has been persisting for over 15 months now, has severely impeded humanitarian access and pushed parts of North Darfur into Famine, notably Zamzam IDP camp.”

The ongoing conflict, which began last year, has displaced over 10 million people and created dire humanitarian conditions. Human rights violations, lack of basic services, and an escalating food crisis have compounded the suffering, threatening the entire region. In response, the UN Mission of the UK in New York called for an urgent Security Council meeting on Sudan saying, “Sudan needs peace now.” A recent report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) revealed an extensive report on sexual violence perpetrated by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum, Sudan, amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

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