ALBAWABA - The World Food Programme (WFP) has issued a warning about Sudan's deteriorating humanitarian crisis, claiming that the ongoing power struggle will only worsen the country's already dire situation.
WFP director Cindy McCain said that the war between Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Hemedti and the Sudanese Armed Forces General al-Burhan "risks triggering the world’s largest hunger crisis".
Almost 11 months into the war, tens of thousands of people have been killed, the country's infrastructure has witnessed severe damage, and the economy suffers a crippling collapse.
It has also displaced almost eight million people, in addition to the two million who were forced to flee their homes prior to the conflict, making it the world's worst displacement catastrophe.
WFP McCain stated that "millions of lives and the peace and stability of an entire region are at stake" right now. "Twenty years ago, Darfur was the world's largest hunger crisis, and the world rallied to respond," she explained, referring to Sudan's huge western region.
Humanitarian assistance has been hampered even more as authorities denied authorization for cross-border truck convoys, causing the WFP to halt operations from Chad to Darfur. Since August, more than one million individuals in West and Central Darfur have received WFP aid through this lifeline channel, and WFP is working to increase that number each month as hunger and malnutrition continue to rise in Darfur.
Renk, in eastern South Sudan, houses about 600,000 refugees who have fled from Sudan in the last ten months. The WFP chief paid a visit to the overcrowded transit camps, where families come hungry and face even greater hunger.
"I met mothers and children who have fled for their lives not once, but multiple times, and now hunger is closing in on them," McCain said.
"The consequences of inaction go far beyond a mother unable to feed her child and will shape the region for years to come. Today I am making an urgent plea for the fighting to stop, and that all humanitarian agencies must be allowed to do their life-saving work".
Despite making up fewer than 3% of the population, newly arrived displaced individuals in South Sudan account for 35% of those suffering from catastrophic levels of hunger, the greatest potential level.
Furthermore, one in every five children in the transit centers near the main border crossing is underweight. With present resources, WFP is trying to keep up with the high level of need.
