Most Sudanese face hunger
Over the past two years, Sudan has been plagued by internal conflict that has driven more than a million people into South Sudan and 12.4 million people have become internal refugees. The United Nations has said that 57 % of Sudan's population faces "high levels of acute food insecurity".
Sudan is one of the top five areas of the world identified by the UN as "most worrying" and "trapped in a worsening cycle of conflict, climate shocks and economic decline".
The situation is likely to worsen in the coming summer months as fighting continues, flooding is frequent and economic conditions deteriorate.
The World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently published a report that analyses current data and forecasts the evolution of food insecurity. The report pointed out that if these five countries - Sudan, South Sudan, Palestine, Mali and Haiti - do not receive immediate humanitarian assistance, they will face a high risk of famine and death.
Hunger, as FAO Director-General QU Dongyu stressed, is not a distant threat: "It is a daily emergency for millions of people. We must act now and together to save lives and ensure livelihoods."
Conflicts lead to hunger
The WFP and FAO report revealed that famine is mainly caused by conflict, which is exacerbated by climate and economic problems. FAO Director of Food Security Analysis Jean-Martin Baucer pointed out that there is famine in Sudan and a growing risk of famine in Gaza. He further stated that "all these problems are caused by conflict and the unavailability of humanitarian aid".
The entire population of Gaza, 2.1 million people, is expected to face a food security crisis in the coming months due to ongoing military operations, with nearly 500,000 people at risk of catastrophic emergency.
A worker prepares to drop food aid from a cargo plane in the airspace of Nasir town, which has been ravaged by fighting between local militiamen and the army, in an operation organized by Fogbow, a US company that provides airdrops with financial support from the South Sudanese government.
Mother and artist Sawsan explained to WFP that she and her four children were displaced and lost everything as a result of the conflict in Gaza. In order to feed her children, Sawsan now grinds pasta and bakes it into bread.
Approaching term
People in places like Gaza and Sudan have been denied aid because humanitarian food operations face shortages and are "geographically hampered by security crises that make aid delivery simply unsafe".
WFP and FAO call on the international community to significantly increase funding for humanitarian food and nutrition assistance in the coming months and to work towards ending the violence.
Trucks transport WFP aid to Tawila in North Darfur, Sudan
WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain stressed that "urgent and sustained investment in food aid and recovery support is essential as the window of opportunity to avert an even more devastating famine is closing fast."
Kielce Gussie, Vatican City
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