The World Food Programme (WFP) is demanding full access in Sudan as famine looms in the country.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in conflict between the regular armed forces, under the control of de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by his former deputy, Mohammed Hamdan Daglo.
The fighting has claimed the lives of tens of thousands, displaced millions, and led to one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. Both factions have been accused of perpetrating war crimes, including assaults on civilians and obstructing aid efforts, as well as employing tactics that effectively starve millions.
“We want complete and unfettered access as well as the ability to get in through as many different entry points into Sudan as possible,” WFP’s executive director Cindy McCain told AFP on Sunday.
She warned that with the whole of Sudan currently on famine alert level and famine already declared at Darfur’s Zamzam camp, “it will spread so it’s really urgent and that we can get in and we can do it at
scale”.
Approximately 11.3 million individuals have been displaced due to the conflict, including nearly three million who have sought refuge outside of Sudan, as reported by the UN refugee agency. Around 26 million people are experiencing severe food insecurity, and a UN-supported evaluation in August indicated that the fighting has led the Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur state to face famine conditions.
“For us, it’s about getting food and trucks in there, so it’s important that the gates stay open,” McCain said, adding that this included not just Sudan’s border crossing with Chad but all crossings
into the country. We need as many of them open as possible,” she said.
On October 18, nations such as Britain, the United States, France, and Germany called on both parties in Sudan to allow the entry of essential aid for millions of individuals in critical need.
“The two sides’ systematic obstruction of local and international humanitarian efforts are at the root of this famine,” the European and North American nations said in a joint statement.