People in Sudan already has to eat leaves and insects to survive, humanitarian organizations have warned. The civil war in the country creates a historical crisis.
Humanitarian organizations are using increasingly dramatic warnings regarding the situation in Sudan: "We cannot be clearer: "Sudan is experiencing a famine of historic proportions," say the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), the Danish Refugee Council refugees (DRC) and the organization "Mercy Corps”. So far, all opportunities to prevent the worst have been missed. The humanitarian aid plan is only 41% funded. Most of the funds will likely come too late to prevent many deaths.
Hunger as a "weapon in war”
The three humanitarian organizations that say they are active in Sudan also accuse the parties in the civil war of impeding aid deliveries. In this way, hunger has become a "weapon of war". Many farms were also damaged and farmers were displaced. Fear of explosive devices prevents farmers from cultivating their fields, and more than one in two Sudanese suffer from acute food shortages. Many families are forced to eat leaves and insects.
Since the first day of the war, fighting has been taking place in densely populated areas, humanitarian organizations report. Public buildings, markets and offices, including those of aid organizations, were attacked and looted. The Norwegian Refugee Council, the Danish Refugee Council and the "Mercy Corps” call for an immediate ceasefire, respect for international law and access to the affected population. The civilian population, as well as the central infrastructure - must be protected from attacks.
Calculations and complex definitions
"People die of hunger every day, yet the focus remains on semantic debates and legal definitions," criticized the Norwegian Refugee Council. The organization hints that complex clarification is needed to determine whether hunger is present. The criteria include, for example, that four out of 10,000 children must die of hunger every day or that more than 30% of the population is undernourished. This method is used by the United Nations and other international development organizations.
In Sudan, the regular army and the paramilitary "Rapid Reaction Forces” have been waging a bloody power struggle for more than a year. Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, head of the paramilitary force, previously served as deputy to military ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who ousted longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in October 2021.