Sudan: UNOCHA Warns of 'World's Worst Hunger Crisis'

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Facts

  • 18M Sudanese are experiencing 'acute food insecurity,' with the situation in Sudan set to become 'the world's worst hunger crisis,' Edem Wosornu, Director of Operations and Advocacy at the UN Humanitarian Affairs Office (OCHA), said Wednesday.1
  • The official told the UN Security Council that, of those 18M — more than a third of the country's population — 90% live in the 'conflict hotspots' of Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum, and Al Jazirah. This comes after an OCHA white paper on food insecurity in Sudan was published last week.2
  • With the price of basic food commodities seeing an 83% increase, widespread destruction of critical infrastructure, and an estimated 220K children at risk of death in the 'coming weeks and months,' Wosornu described the situation as the 'the stuff of nightmares.'3
  • The meeting also noted that the UN's appeal for $2.7B in aid for Sudan so far has only raised $131M, less than 5% of the target. In view of a 'looming famine', Wosornu called for 'tangible commitments' at the donor conference in Paris on April 15.4
  • Her comments were accompanied by a further statement from UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Deputy Chief Maurizio Martina, urging an 'immediate cessation of hostilities' while calling Sudan’s 2024 food production outlook 'bleak.'5
  • In April 2023, a civil war erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The conflict killed more than 10K people and displaced 5.6M, hundreds of thousands of whom fled to unstable neighboring countries.6

Sources: 1Unocha, 2UN News, 3Meetings Coverage and Press Releases, 4Africanews, 5Newsroom and 6Global Conflict Tracker.

Narratives

  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by New York Times. Despite the continued outcries of international aid groups, the world has done little to bring Sudan's crisis to an end. It has taken the UNSC nearly a year to officially call for an end to the civil war, and both the SAF and RSF have faced little public criticism for their oppression of human rights and their prevention of crucial aid being successfully delivered and received. The international community must wake up and take responsibility to end what many are describing as hell on Earth.
  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by UN News. The UN and the international community remain steadfast in their commitments to help Sudan. Without an end to the ongoing conflict, the security of the entirely of East Africa may be at stake. International support and aid must continue to be encouraged as the UN and its mediation teams remain set on securing a sustainable and peaceful future for the region.

Predictions