One Year Of Sudan's Conflict, United Nations: Sudan Will Face The World's Largest Hunger Crisis

South Sudanese are looking for fish in the river. (fao.org/south-sudan)

JAKARTA - The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) voiced concerns about the situation in Sudan, saying that the African country is on the verge of "the world's largest hunger crisis".

Leni Kinzli, a WFP spokesman in Sudan, told a virtual press conference that the UN program "warns that time is running out to prevent hunger" and escalating clashes in El Fasher hampered the delivery of humanitarian aid to the region.

"One year of devastating conflict in Sudan has created an unprecedented hunger disaster and threatens to trigger the world's largest hunger crisis," he said, quoted by ANTARA, Saturday, May 4.

He also added that food assistance was limited in the El Fasher and Darfur regions due to "infinite bureaucratic combat and obstacles".

Kinzli said that they were trying to reach 700 thousand people before the start of the rainy season when the road was still usable and they had 8 thousand tons of food stock in Chad, but the distribution of food was hampered due to problems.

Highlighting the WFP's urgent need for unobstructed access and security guarantees, he stressed that the increasing conflict in El Fasher had a profound impact on 1.7 million people who were already suffering from hunger.

Given that about 28 million people in Sudan and South Sudan face food insecurity, he called on the international community to take action.

Kinzli further reminded the parties in Sudan of their obligation to comply with international humanitarian law.

The Sudanese army took control of El Fasher and was supported by an armed movement that signed a Juba peace agreement with the government in 2020.

The war in Sudan broke out in April 2023 due to dissent over the integration of Sudanese paramilitary forces (RSF) into the armed forces between Sudanese Army General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

The conflict has led to a devastating humanitarian crisis, and clashes have killed nearly 16 thousand people and displaced millions of people.

On March 29, the United Nations Security Council filed a complaint against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for allegedly supporting the RSF, but the UAE denied the allegations.