Sudan is sliding into catastrophe, with famine conditions recorded in the Zamzam camp for displaced people near the conflict-riven town of El Fasher in North Darfur. Zamzam was among 14 areas identified as being at risk of famine across Darfur, Khartoum, Kordofan and Gezira in the most recent report by the Integrated Food Phase Classification.
The World Food Programme urgently calls on all warring parties to allow humanitarian food assistance by freeing up key access points within the country and on its borders. Humanitarian organizations urgently need guarantees of safe passage for those delivering life-saving aid to communities in the most desperate circumstances.
"It is not too late to stop famine from spreading to other parts of the country," said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain. "To save lives and prevent widespread starvation in Sudan, we must be able to reach all areas where people are in need."
She added: "The Sudanese people are counting on us as their lifeline after enduring unimaginable hardship since this conflict began."
WFP has been warning of a spiralling hunger crisis since war erupted in the country in April 2023 - now, this is the first determination of famine in seven years, meaning people in Zamzam have already started dying of malnutrition and hunger.
The latest figures from the IPC's Famine Review Committee confirm our worst fears. Famine is determined when, in a given area, at least 20 percent of households face extreme food shortages, at least 30 percent of children suffer from acute malnutrition, and the daily death rate exceeds 2 people per 10,000.
Zamzam camp is home to more than 220,000 displaced people facing starvation - an immediate cessation of hostilities in El Fasher and other conflict hotspots is critical to scale up assistance to people in the most desperate circumstances.
