Sudan rejects IPC famine report backed by UN News
RomanDeckert, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sudan rejects IPC famine report backed by UN

Sudanese government officials on Sunday rejected the latest UN-backed famine analysis by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), according to Sudan News Agency.

The Foreign Ministry of Sudan stated it “categorically rejects the IPC’s description of the situation in Sudan as a famine.” The military-dominated government accused the IPC’s analysis of being speculative, and complained of a lack of field data. The government also said the IPC should have consulted a government team before publication. Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Dr. Omar Abu Bakr Al-Bishri indicated that Sudan’s communications on discrepancies in the report were not considered.

The IPC published the latest projections regarding the country’s food insecurity on December 24. According to the report, approximately 24.6 million people in Sudan will likely experience high levels of acute food insecurity between December 2024 and May 2025. Famine has been classified, where reliable data exists, in 5 areas: Zamzam, the Abu Shouk and Al Salam camps in North Darfur, and both residents and internally displaced people (IDPs) in the Western Nuba mountains. These areas are classified as Phase 5, showing high levels of acute food insecurity, acute malnutrition, and mortality.

The famine is expected to persist in these areas and also expand to other localities. Moreover, the ongoing conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is constraining humanitarian access. The IPC said that this restriction worsens the food insecurity situation and hinders access to information. The IPC urged the need to end the hostilities and allow access to humanitarian assistance, finding that providing agricultural livelihood and securing support packages to vulnerable households are key to ending the acute food insecurity in Sudan.

In the report, the IPC also noted its responsibility to provide “the most complete, accurate and evidence-based analysis” possible.

Sudan has been experiencing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Director of Operations at the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Edem Wosornu recalled the situation as a “crisis of staggering scale and cruelty.” Wosornu highlighted before the UN Security Council the need for additional economic resources to solve the crisis. She also urged the parties to comply with international norms.

UN officials also recently evidenced the alarming situation in cities like El Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state. Here, attacks on civilians and infrastructure have led to a humanitarian catastrophe, with over 782 civilians killed since May 2024.

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher recently emphasized the need to scale up international response in light of the famine. Furthermore, UNICEF Director of Emergency Operations Lucia Elmi stated: “The ongoing conflict, continuous displacements and recurrent disease outbreaks have created a dangerous breeding ground for malnutrition in Sudan.”

Despite reports on the worsening situation, Sudanese government officials hold that malnutrition levels are similar to pre-war levels.

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