October 18, Nairobi — Never in modern history have so many people starvation and famine as in Sudan today, experts from the United Nations Human Rights Council said on Thursday.
97 percent of Sudanese’s internally displaced population, alongside civilians who remain in their homes, are facing severe levels of hunger, the UN also said. They accused the Sudanese government and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of using “starvation tactics” against 25 million civilians.
They said that in order for famine and starvation to end the warring parties must “stop immediately obstructing aid delivery in Sudan through bureaucratic—administrative barriers, attacks against local respondents and for foreign governments to halt financial and military support of the SAF and RSF.”
Zamzam camp in North Darfur, which is home to half a million internally displaced people, is facing some of the most dire conditions.
In the Jebel Marra area in western Sudan, over 60 children and women died in September alone due malnutrition or malaria. In other areas in Darfur, Al Jazirah and Khartoum markets have come under attack, often resulting in inflated food prices, damaged farms, crops and machinery, the UN noted.
Despite the November harvest approaching, many farmers will likely be unable to plant due to the destroyed infrastructure, rising costs of seeds and fears of attacks and violence.
“The world must pay attention to the largest modern famine taking shape in Sudan today,” the UN experts said.