SUDAN’S civil war between rival generals is in danger of creating the world’s worst famine, World Food Programme executive director Cindy McCain warned today.
She said that the fighting between the country’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had shattered millions of lives across the north-east African nation.
“The war in Sudan risks triggering the world’s largest hunger crisis,” Ms McCain stressed as she wrapped up a trip to South Sudan, to which hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled to escape the fighting in their home country.
The United Nations food agency said that some 18 million people across Sudan face acute hunger, with the most desperate trapped behind the front lines.
Though global attention has been focused on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, the Palestinian territory’s population of 2.3 million means far fewer people are affected by the humanitarian emergency there than is the case in Sudan.
The country plunged into chaos last April when clashes erupted in the capital Khartoum between the military, led by General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.
The fighting quickly spread nationwide, especially affecting urban areas but also the restive western Darfur region.
Many thousands of people have been killed, including between 10,000 and 15,000 when paramilitary forces and allied Arab militias rampaged through a Darfur town last year.
Two decades ago, Darfur became synonymous with genocide and war crimes, particularly by the notorious Janjaweed Arab militias, against populations that identify as central or east African.
Now there are grounds to believe both sides are committing possible war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Darfur, International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan said in late January.
“Twenty years ago, Darfur was the world’s largest hunger crisis and the world rallied to respond. But today, the people of Sudan have been forgotten,” Mr McCain said.
The conflict has displaced more than 10 million people, either to safer areas inside Sudan or to neighbouring countries, according to UN agencies.
Ms McCain called for the warring parties to stop fighting and allow humanitarian agencies to provide their life-saving assistance.
“The consequences of inaction go far beyond a mother unable to feed her child and will shape the region for years to come,” she said.
