UN: 638,000 Face Catastrophic Hunger in SudanNew York, 20 Feb (ONA) — UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said
“around 638,000 people are confirmed to be in catastrophic hunger
conditions, which are classified as phase 5 of the Integrated Food
Security Classification (IPC).

“There are reports of people dying of starvation in some areas
like Darfur, Kordofan and Khartoum,” Dujarric said at the daily press
briefing at UN headquarters in New York.

“All of this, to say the least, is a very horrific and sad
situation. A record 4.7 million children under the age of five and
pregnant and breastfeeding women and girls are suffering from acute
malnutrition in Sudan,” he added.

“That’s why we keep calling on all of parties to silence the
guns and put the interest of their people first and foremost,”
Dujarric said.

“We urgently need to expand access and open new corridors both
cross-border and across conflict frontlines to provide assistance and
save people from dying of starvation,” he stressed. In February, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) Deputy Head of Office in Sudan Edmore Tondhlana
affirmed that about 30 million Sudanese need urgent humanitarian aid,
warning of further deterioration of the humanitarian situation as a
result of the conflict that has been ongoing in Sudan for about 20
months.

The armed conflict between Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid
Support Forces (RSF) has been ongoing since April 2023, resulting in
over 20,000 deaths and displacement of nearly 14 million people,
according to UN and local reports.— Ends/Khalid