UN warns: 'The world's largest hunger crisis is approaching'

12PUNTO FOREIGN NEWS

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has issued a statement warning that the war in Sudan is 'triggering the world's largest hunger crisis' and that 'more than 25 million people are trapped in a spiral of food insecurity.'

In a statement on Wednesday, the WFP said that nine out of every 10 people across the country are 'facing emergency levels of hunger' and are trapped in areas largely inaccessible due to 'relentless violence and interference by warring parties.'

According to the UN, the war, which has also created the world's largest displacement crisis, has pushed 18 million people in Sudan and millions more in neighboring South Sudan and Chad into 'severe food insecurity.'

WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain stated, “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. Millions of lives and the peace and stability of an entire region are at stake.”

Thousands of people have been killed and eight million displaced so far in the war between forces loyal to two rival commanders: Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) Chief of Staff Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) general Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

Both groups are accused of killing civilians, looting homes, and causing people in Sudan to become homeless.

AID EFFORTS AT BREAKING POINT

The WFP stated that it is currently 'struggling to keep pace with critical needs' and described humanitarian aid efforts as being 'at a breaking point.'

According to the WFP, the crisis has deepened further after the program was forced to halt operations transporting aid from Chad to Sudan's Darfur region following the refusal of local authorities to allow cross-border truck convoys. Since August, more than one million people had been receiving humanitarian aid via this route.

According to information included in the WFP's statement, one in five children at transit centers at the main border crossing point between Sudan and South Sudan is malnourished.

The WFP added, "Newly arrived displaced people in South Sudan, despite making up less than 3 percent of the population, account for 35 percent of those facing catastrophic levels of hunger."

News Source: 12punto