Hunger and starvation in Sudan are spreading because of decisions made each day to continue the conflict, irrespective of civilian cost, United Nations aid officials told the Security Council today, as they urged members to push for a ceasefire and the lifting of restrictions impeding humanitarian work.
"This is a man-made crisis," Edem Wosornu, Director of Operations and Advocacy Division, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, stressed in her briefing to the 15-member organ.
The latest from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is "shocking, but sadly, not surprising", she continued. Analysis indicates that famine conditions are now present in five areas, including Zamzam, Al Salam and Abu Shouk internally displaced persons camps, and in the Western Nuba Mountains. The findings project that five additional locations - all in North Darfur - will be affected between now and May, with risk of famine in 17 other areas.
More than 11.5 million people have been internally displaced in Sudan since fighting erupted in 2023, while more than 3.2 million others have fled to neighbouring countries. Humanitarian workers are risking their lives to carry out their duties. Just last month, three World Food Programme (WFP) workers were killed by an air strike on their compound in Yabus, in Blue Nile State.
Despite the increasing danger, there has been some progress. On 25 December 2024, a convoy of 28 trucks arrived in Khartoum with food, nutrition supplies and other assistance - the largest UN convoy to reach the capital since the beginning of the crisis and following many weeks of negotiations.
But, inside some areas of Darfur, additional restrictions are being imposed on the work of humanitarian organizations. New inspection procedures for trucks are creating further bottlenecks and visas for humanitarian personnel are not being granted swiftly enough.
"We need your help to press the parties to comply with international humanitarian law," she stressed, urging for an immediate cessation of hostilities and for "real and inclusive" steps towards lasting peace that the people of Sudan "so desperately need".
All routes via roads and air across conflict lines and borders must be open for relief supplies and humanitarian personnel. Funds are critically needed, as well. The 2025 Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan will require a record $4.2 billion to support close to 21 million people. A further $1.8 billion is needed to support 5 million people in seven neighbouring countries.
Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), also briefing the Council, recalled how, in August 2024, famine was classified in Zamzam camp in Sudan's North Darfur State. "It persists and it has expanded," she warned, stressing that famine conditions have spread to other sites in North Darfur and to the Western Nuba Mountains.
"The risk of famine and its spread has been on our collective conscience since August, and now it is here, not only with people dying from hunger, but also with a breakdown of health systems, livelihoods and social structures," she went on to say.
Sustained violence and economic turmoil have disrupted markets and driven prices of staple goods to unaffordable levels. Nearly two thirds of the Sudanese people depend on agriculture. Production loss of vital crops, such as sorghum, millet and wheat, represent an economic hit estimated into the billions of dollars.
"We need your political leverage to end hostilities and to bring relief to the people of Sudan," she added, emphasizing that, in 2025, FAO plans to reach over 14 million people with the seeds, livestock feed and fishing supplies they need to produce their own nutritious food.
In the ensuing discussion, Council members stressed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan and urged conflicting parties to respect international humanitarian law and lift roadblocks for humanitarian organizations to be able to carry out their life-saving work.
Many of them also recalled a Sudan that had once been an agriculturally rich country, with Guyana's delegate, speaking also for Slovenia, the Council's informal co-focal points on conflict and hunger, expressing alarm that the displacement of farming communities and attacks on agricultural sites have "turned a once-thriving country - the breadbasket of its region - into the world's largest hunger crisis".
"Even during the harvest season, when food should be abundant, millions are starving" in Sudan, Slovenia's delegate added. In the numbers and statistics that detail the hunger and famine "lies the stark reality of a starving child, a new mother unable to nourish her newborn, older persons and persons with disabilities left without access to essential services", he added. The Council must call on the conflicting parties to lift bureaucratic impediments and excessive levels of paperwork that continue to hinder aid efforts.
"It is within the power of the warring parties to prevent a further deepening of this man-made crisis," underscored the representative from the United Kingdom. Welcoming the Sudanese Armed Forces' agreement to establish humanitarian supply hubs and extend permissions for the Adre crossing, he called for more humanitarian hubs to be authorized, including in areas held by the Rapid Support Forces. Greece's delegate also stressed that "safe and sustained access to famine-stricken areas must be guaranteed", calling for the immediate removal of administrative and security barriers hindering aid operations. Underlining the Council's responsibility to act, the representative of Denmark stressed: "We cannot sit idly by as civilians starve before our eyes."
"The cessation of hostilities is the only action that can mitigate the risk of famine spreading further in Sudan and contain the high levels of acute food insecurity," Sierra Leone's delegate said, speaking also on behalf of Algeria, Guyana and Somalia. Urging warring parties to fully adhere to their commitments under the Jeddah Declaration, he further stressed that a lasting solution to the conflict in Sudan also requires an end to foreign interference and the support provided by external actors to the warring parties.
It is indeed essential to maintain Sudan's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, added Egypt's delegate, speaking under Security Council Rule 37. He warned that interfering in Sudan's internal affairs "would only deepen the current conflict".
The representative of the United States expressed concern about the Sudanese authorities' decision to suspend their collaboration with the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system. Refusal to cooperate will only disrupt donor efforts and further damage Sudan's credibility, she stressed. "Both military factions must facilitate the establishment of humanitarian hubs to support the flow of aid and cease all diversions and theft of it," she said, expressing regret that the Council's efforts to adopt a resolution calling for a ceasefire fell apart because of the Russian Federation's veto.
Several Council members, including the representative of the Russian Federation, questioned the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Famine Review Committee's findings, adding that the issue of hunger in Sudan is politicized and exploited to exert political pressure. Sudan is not experiencing severe famine. There is only a risk of famine in five small areas in the country - four of which are refugee camps. "The conclusions of the report look strange," he said, citing its data as "purely speculative".
Echoing similar sentiments, Pakistan's delegate noted that Sudan's Government has questioned the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report, including its malnutrition data and assessment, as well as its ability to collect data from conflict zones. "These views need to be taken into account," he went on to say. Similarly, China's representative said that the relevant organization should ensure that its findings reflect the "actual situation with a view to solving the problem in a more targeted manner".
The representative of France pushed back, stressing that, because of the ongoing conflict, over half of the Sudanese population is being exposed to acute food insecurity. It is therefore vital for the parties to the conflict to allow rapid, safe, comprehensive and unfettered humanitarian access. Panama's representative also said: "We are surprised by the disproportionate indifference by which this conflict has been met."
Urging the Sudanese authorities to respect the findings of the Famine Review Committee, the delegate of the Republic of Korea added: "It is difficult to understand the logic of calling on the international community to massively increase its humanitarian assistance to Sudan while, at the same time, denying the existence of famine."
"The truth is not that Sudan suffers a famine," said Khartoum's delegate. "Our difference with the IPC report is not just academic controversy, but a difference on the statistics and data collected," he added, expressing concern over the latest report's results and methodology. These include the fact that field teams cannot reach militia-controlled areas - preventing direct contact with the affected population.
He rejected the report and its classification of famine in Sudan - "not because we want to hide famine, but because the methodology lacked accuracy and transparency and suffered from inadequacies in analysing the results". Only 1 per cent of the population in Sudan can be classified as affected by famine.
He went on to say that the Government has restored stability in several areas, opened land and aerial routes and issued visas and permits to humanitarian personnel. "The reasons for the humanitarian crisis are the grave violations by the Rapid Support Forces," he underscored, urging the Council to impose sanctions on the group.
