What is already being described as the world’s biggest humanitarian disaster is expected to get worse. This is stated by the UN-supported IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) in a report.
In five areas of Sudan, including the country’s largest refugee camp Zamzam in the province of North Darfur, there is already famine. A further five areas are at risk of being affected within six months.
Refugee camp at risk
It is above all refugee camps that are in the risk zone. Even in areas of the capital, Khartoum, there may be “famine-like” conditions, the IPC reports.
According to the report, the civil war has resulted in a mass displacement of people and a collapsed economy. There is a shortage of food in stores and farmers risk abandoning their fields and crops, which has led to high food prices.
Aid organizations have problems reaching the most vulnerable because the warring parties restrict access, especially in the war-torn province of North Darfur.
14 million on the run
The war in Sudan has been ongoing since April 2023. According to the UN, over 24,000 people have died in the war so far. Over 14 million are refugees, which corresponds to approximately 30 percent of the country’s population.
Famine was first detected in August in the Zamzam refugee camp, where about half a million people live.