Famine is occurring in parts of Sudan for the second time in less than a year, a global hunger monitor has said.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification issued an alert on Monday over Sudan's continuing “humanitarian catastrophe". It said that more than 21 million people, or 45 per cent of the population, were experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity.
The IPC report found that famine was occurring in El Fasher, a city in Sudan’s western Darfur region, and the besieged town of Kadugli in the South Kordofan region. Twenty other areas expected to receive displaced populations across North, South and East Darfur, as well as West and South Kordofan, are also at risk of famine, the report stated.
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had besieged El Fasher for 18 months, cutting off food and other essential supplies to tens of thousands of people, before taking over the city last week. Civilians who fled the city told of mass killings, torture, rape and extortion by the RSF.
Kadugli has also been under RSF siege for months, with tens of thousands of people trapped, as the paramilitary group tries to seize more territory from Sudan's armed forces.
The global hunger monitor characterises famine as a total collapse of livelihoods, starvation and extremely high levels of malnutrition and death. It is determined to be occurring in areas where at least 20 per cent of households face an extreme lack of food, 30 per cent of children suffer from acute malnutrition and hunger-related deaths exceed two per 10,000 people a day.
In late 2024, the IPC declared famine in Zamzam, Abu Shouk and Al Salam displacement camps in North Darfur, as well as the Western Nuba Mountains.
The RSF has been locked in a bloody civil war with Sudan’s army since 2023, following a military coup that overthrew the civilian transitional government. The conflict has killed tens of thousands and displaced at least 13 million people. Both warring parties have been accused of committing war crimes against civilians.
The IPC report called for “unimpeded humanitarian access to prevent further starvation and death”. The World Food Programme said on Friday that lorries carrying aid had reached Kadugli town “for the first time in over a year”.
“Tens of thousands of people who’ve endured months of isolation, hunger, and fear will finally receive the food they need to survive,” the UN agency said.
