In brief
The World Food Programme has raised alarms about the dire food shortages in El-Fasher, Sudan, where families are reportedly facing starvation after being cut off from aid for over a year. The civil war, now in its third year, has led to severe malnutrition levels, particularly among children, as fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitary forces persists.
Residents of El-Fasher, a city in western Darfur, are facing a grim reality as starvation looms due to the relentless siege that has lasted for nearly 16 months. The World Food Programme (WFP) has issued a warning stating that it has been unable to deliver essential food supplies to the city for over a year. The siege is attributed to paramilitary forces from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which are engaged in an intense battle to capture the city from the Sudanese army.As the civil war in Sudan enters a perilous third year, the humanitarian crisis has escalated. Local activists have begun reporting deaths due to starvation, with the beleaguered population of around 300,000 residents struggling to survive amid increasing malnutrition. According to the UN children's agency, Unicef, many children across Sudan are suffering from severe malnutrition, with some described as "reduced to skin and bones."In a recent appeal for international aid, the Governor of North Darfur, Al-Hafiz Bakhit, stated that the living conditions in El-Fasher had become "unbearable." The RSF's attempts to capture the city have intensified, particularly following their expulsion from Khartoum. A staggering 38% of children under five in nearby displacement camps are reportedly suffering from acute malnutrition, as food scarcity drives prices up drastically.The ongoing conflict has left the residents of El-Fasher in a desperate struggle for survival, with reports indicating that some are resorting to eating animal feed and food leftovers. Eric Perdison, the WFP’s regional director for eastern and southern Africa, emphasized that the people’s coping mechanisms have been exhausted and stressed the urgent need for humanitarian access to avoid further loss of life.An eight-year-old girl named Sondos, who fled El-Fasher with her family, described the horrors of shelling and hunger in the city, revealing that her family had survived mainly on millet. While the WFP has food aid ready for deployment and clearance from the Sudanese government to proceed, they are still awaiting a response from the RSF about a potential pause in hostilities.The UN has advocated for a humanitarian truce, particularly following an attack on a UN convoy. Recently, Sudan's military leader, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, agreed to a temporary ceasefire, though the RSF has reportedly dismissed the initiative as an attempt to facilitate aid for the Sudanese armed forces.According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over one million people have fled El-Fasher since the onset of the conflict, with harrowing accounts of their escape amid intense bombing and attacks by RSF-affiliated gangs.Despite modest progress made in delivering food to other areas in Darfur, the WFP cautions that these gains may quickly unravel as the rainy season approaches. Sheldon Yett from Unicef has noted that while some conditions are improving in central Sudan, the situation remains precarious due to insufficient funding and access issues.It is a profound crisis facing the nation, threatening to inflict irreversible damage on an entire generation of children unless swift and effective action is taken.
