Report says famine spreading in Sudan
A report from the UN’s global hunger monitor has found famine in five areas of Sudan and expects it to spread to another five by May, a move that has caused Sudan’s government to suspend participation in the hunger-monitoring system.
According to Reuters, the December 24th report by the integrated food security phase classification (IPC). confirmed famine conditions in the Abu Shouk and al-Salam camps, both in North Darfur capital al-Fashir
It also confirmed it in two other areas in South Kordofan state, adding to the famine identified in North Darfur’s Zamzam camp, identified in August.
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The ICP predicts famine will expand to five additional areas in North Darfur, including Um Kadadah, Melit, al-Fashir, Tawisha and al-Lait, by May, and identified another 17 areas across the country at risk of famine.
It estimated that about 24.6 million people, about half of the population, urgently need food aid through February, a sharp increase from the 21.1 million originally projected in June for the same period.
Sudan suspended its membership of the global food-monitoring system the day before the publication of the report. The government’s agriculture minister in a letter dated December 23rd accused the IPC of “issuing unreliable reports that undermine Sudan’s sovereignty and dignity.”
The IPC is an independent body funded by western nations and overseen by 19 humanitarian groups and intergovernmental institutions which is designed to raise awareness of developing food crises so groups can respond and prevent famine and mass starvation.
In the IPC’s system, a “technical working group,” usually headed by the national government, analyses data and periodically issues reports that rank areas on a one-to-five scale that slides from minimal to stressed, crisis, emergency and famine.
A documented seen by Reuters showed the Sudanese government temporarily stopped the government-led analysis in October. After resuming work, the group didn’t acknowledge famine.
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The new famine review committee report released said key malnutrition data had been excluded by the government-led group.
The Rapid Support Forces militia fighting the government (RSF) have looted commercial and humanitarian food supplies, disrupted farming and besieged some areas, making trade more costly and food prices unaffordable.
The military-led government government has blocked humanitarian groups’ access to some parts of the country.
“We have the food. We have the trucks on the road. We have the people on the ground. We just need safe passage to deliver assistance,” said director of food security and nutrition analysis for the UN World Food Program Jean-Martin Bauer.
The RSF told Reuters the accusations of looting were “baseless,” and said millions of people in areas it controlled were facing “the threat of hunger,” and that it was committed to “fully facilitating the delivery of aid to those affected.”
Reuters
