Khartoum - New York: Europe and the Arabs
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) sounded the alarm during a session of the UN Security Council on the situation in Sudan, which remains in the grip of a "humanitarian crisis of staggering proportions" while food security has deteriorated to its worst levels "in the country's history".

The Security Council heard two briefings yesterday, Monday, from OCHA's Director of Advocacy and Operations, Edem Wosorno, and FAO's Deputy Director-General, Beth Bechdol, following the release of the latest analysis by the Global Partnership for the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.

The analysis indicated that famine conditions are now occurring in five Sudanese regions, including the Zamzam, Al-Salam and Abu Shouk camps for internally displaced persons, and in the western Nuba Mountains, and it is expected that five additional locations - all in North Darfur - will be affected between now and May, with the risk of famine in 17 other regions.
“The report’s findings are shocking, but unfortunately not surprising,” Ms. Warsorno said in her remarks, adding: “With the intensification of fighting and the restriction of access to the main hunger hotspots, further famine and hunger were – unfortunately – the most likely scenario.”
The OCHA official stressed that the impact of this “man-made” crisis is not equal across the population, “with severe hunger posing disproportionate risks to women and girls, to the young and the elderly.”
“Sudan is the only place in the world where famine is currently confirmed. Hunger and famine are spreading because of the decisions being made every day to continue this war, regardless of the cost to civilians,” she said.
Ms. Warsorno called on the Security Council to help pressure the parties to comply with international humanitarian law, including by fulfilling their obligations to meet the needs of civilians and protect vital infrastructure and services. She also called on Council members to use their influence to ensure that all routes are open for relief supplies and humanitarian workers. OCHA’s Director of Advocacy and Operations noted that the Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan 2025 will require a record $4.2 billion to support nearly 21 million people inside Sudan, adding that an additional $1.8 billion is needed to support five million people – mostly refugees – in seven neighbouring countries. “The unprecedented scale of needs in Sudan requires an unprecedented mobilisation of international support,” she said.
She also renewed her call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and real, comprehensive steps “towards the lasting peace that the people of Sudan so desperately need.”
For her part, FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol reminded the Council that over the past 15 years, only four famines have been confirmed: Somalia in 2011; South Sudan in 2017 and 2020; and now Sudan in 2024. “As we have learned from these severe crises, tens of thousands of deaths have already occurred before they are classified as famines,” she said. The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification analysis shows that half of Sudan’s population – or nearly 25 million people – are facing acute levels of food insecurity, including 15.9 million people at Crisis, 8.1 million at Emergency and more than 637,000 at Phase 5 – the highest level and considered catastrophic.
Ms. Bechdol noted that conflict and forced displacement remain the primary drivers of the crisis, which has been exacerbated by restricted humanitarian access, as well as economic disruptions and environmental factors.
While about two-thirds of Sudan’s population depends on agriculture, she noted that production losses in primary crops, such as sorghum, millet and wheat, during the first year of the conflict “could have fed about 18 million people for a year, and represented an economic loss of between US$1.3 and US$1.7 billion.”
She stressed that with the new harvest season starting soon, “hunger and malnutrition are rising at a time when food availability should be at its highest.” “We must take urgent action to address the famine in Sudan, and the Security Council has a crucial role to play, as affirmed in resolution 2417. The threat of famine and its spread has been on our collective conscience since August. It is now a reality, not only with people dying of hunger, but also with health systems, livelihoods and social structures collapsing, with irreversible consequences that could last for generations,” she said. While Ms. Bechdol renewed her calls on the Council to use its political influence to end the hostilities and provide relief to the people of Sudan, as well as to provide immediate and unhindered humanitarian access, she highlighted the need for multi-sectoral humanitarian assistance.
She said that while increased food, water and cash assistance were vital, this alone could not address the full scale of the hunger crisis, adding that ensuring local food production through emergency agricultural support was crucial to building resilience and preventing further humanitarian disasters. “Emergency agricultural support in Sudan must be prioritized. No one affected by conflict – whether in an IDP camp or their community of origin – wants to rely on food aid. They want to feed their families and restore their dignity. Delaying this support risks deepening food insecurity,” she said. At a time when resources for traditional humanitarian responses are shrinking, she noted that agricultural support is a cost-effective and sustainable way to meet immediate needs and help rebuild. Failure of the international community to “act now, collectively, and at scale” risks putting millions of lives at risk and threatening the stability of many countries in the region, she stressed.