West warns of famine risk as 19.5 million face acute hunger in Sudan
A joint statement from 31 Western nations urges warring factions to remove barriers to aid, citing a 41% population share in food insecurity.
By Luka Evans ·
Nineteen and a half million people in Sudan are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, according to a joint warning issued by the United States and 30 other Western states. The figure represents 41 percent of the country's total population. The group urged the warring sides in the civil war to remove obstacles to humanitarian aid to prevent the onset of famine.
The statement, published by the U.S. State Department on Monday, identifies conflict as the primary driver of the hunger crisis. Signatories from the EU, the UK, Canada, Switzerland, and Norway said the war has damaged critical infrastructure and disrupted food production. The document notes that five million people are facing emergency levels of hunger.
Yusuf Roble, regional director for Islamic Relief East Africa, described the situation in Omdurman, where returning residents are finding their homes destroyed or looted. "There is very little to survive on," Roble said. He noted that only 40 percent of Sudan's 2026 humanitarian needs plan had been funded as of September.
The signatories warned that the number of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition could exceed the projected 825,000 without immediate action. They attributed the worsening conditions to systematic obstruction of aid and the effects of El Nino, which has reduced rainfall and increased drought across more than half of Sudan.
The World Health Organization has described the situation as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. In June, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification estimated that 5.1 million people faced severe hunger. The civil war began in April 2023 following a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, displacing 14 million people.
The joint statement places primary responsibility on the parties to the conflict to alleviate suffering. It urges them to lift all impediments to humanitarian assistance and allow full, safe, rapid, and unimpeded access to those in need.
