The UN's World Food Programme warns that families in el-Fasher, Sudan, are facing starvation due to over a year of blocked food deliveries amidst intense fighting between paramilitary forces and the Sudanese army. As local activists report rising deaths from hunger, millions are affected by the ongoing civil war, which has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Urgent Humanitarian Crisis in El-Fasher: UN Warns of Imminent Starvation
Urgent Humanitarian Crisis in El-Fasher: UN Warns of Imminent Starvation
The World Food Programme raises alarms over severe food shortages in Sudan's besieged city, where families are battling starvation amidst ongoing conflict.
Residents of el-Fasher, a city in western Darfur, are in dire straits as the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) issues a warning about impending starvation. The agency has been unable to deliver food supplies to the city due to a blockade by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have surrounded el-Fasher for nearly 16 months, trying to capture it from Sudan's military.
With a population of around 250,000, reports indicate rising fatalities linked to starvation, and activists on the ground point to desperation as families resort to consuming animal feed and food scraps to survive. “Everyone in el-Fasher is facing a daily struggle to survive," said Eric Perdison, the WFP’s regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa, emphasizing the critical nature of the situation.
The ongoing civil war, which began in April 2023, has resulted in what the UN describes as the world's most severe humanitarian crisis. Over 150,000 lives have been lost due to the conflict, which has uprooted approximately 12 million individuals from their homes across Sudan.
The WFP has resources ready to provide aid but faces challenges in ensuring the safe passage of convoys due to past violent encounters. In June, a convoy it sent was attacked, leading to further complications in getting help into the besieged city. The possibility of a humanitarian truce is ambiguous, with uncertainty surrounding how either combatant will react to future aid attempts.
With distressing accounts from survivors surfacing, such as that of an eight-year-old girl named Sondos, who fled with her family, it's clear that urgent intervention is needed to address the escalating crisis in el-Fasher and beyond. The world watches, hoping for a resolution to a conflict that threatens to deepen the suffering of countless families.
