6.3M people in Sudan 'one step away from famine': UN agency

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) – The Sudan conflict has pushed over 20 million people into severe acute hunger, with 6.3 million of them "one step away from famine," the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.

"Around 42% of Sudan’s population had now been pushed into hunger; 6.3 million of those were classified as experiencing IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) 3 or 4 categories of hunger, just one step away from famine," Eddie Rowe, WFP country director for Sudan said at a UN press briefing virtually.

“Since mid-April, the conflict has continued to spread, and its dynamics have become increasingly more complex. Gaining access to people in need of life-saving food assistance has also become more challenging and increasingly urgent,” Rowe added.

Sudan has been ravaged by clashes between the army and the Rapid Support Forces since mid-April, in a conflict that killed more than 3,000 civilians and injured thousands, according to local medics.

Since the conflict began, over four million people have been displaced by the crisis, according to the latest data from the UN refugee agency UNHCR.

The country's food security situation is "deeply alarming," Adam Yao, the deputy representative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said for his part.

Yao underlined that 20.3 million people across Sudan are facing acute food insecurity, "making Sudan one of the most food insecure countries on the planet."

States like Khartoum, South, and West Kordofan, and parts of Darfur are the hardest hit, he noted.

He added that the FAO will provide livestock services and inputs to 1.3 million pastoralists in order to improve nutrition and food security for 6.5 million people.