It’s been a year since the War began in Sudan on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese Army (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
This cruel rivalry between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the head of RSF, Mohamad Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo has left Sudan war-stricken resulting in thousands of children starving.
The U.N. has reported that nearly 25 million people, equivalent to half of Sudan’s population are in dire need of aid and around 8 million have fled their homes to seek refuge in safe places.
Ramifications of this Conflict
Due to the constant conflicts and disputes on the Sudanese land, agricultural production has plummeted down which was ensued by soaring prices of grains and food material making it extremely difficult for the poverty-stricken communities to fill their bellies. Those who are sick are not buying medicine to save that amount for food in order to ensure sustenance on earth.
According to the December analysis of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), it has found that nearly 5 million were on the verge of catastrophic hunger. As per the estimation of IPC, cereal production was 46% lesser than last year as a result of violence in the fertile areas during the harvest season, the food prices also hiked 73 % higher.
The IPC rounded off that nearly 5 million people were found malnourished, of whom 3.6 million are children under the age of five and 1.2 million are pregnant and lactating women.
UNO expresses concern
In a statement released on the official site of the UN, it has said, “Conflict between warring parties in Sudan is driving a hunger crisis dangerously approaching famine for millions of people, senior United Nations officials warned the Security Council today, calling for an urgent cessation of hostilities before an entire generation is destroyed and the wider region is destabilized.”
On Friday, the IPC made a statement on this affair as it said, “Without an immediate cessation of hostilities and significant deployment of humanitarian assistance … the population of Khartoum and Gezira States, Greater Darfur and Greater Kordofan, is at risk of reaching the worst levels of acute food insecurity and malnutrition during the upcoming lean season starting from April – May 2024,”
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) also stepped in to call for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
“The U.S. warned on Thursday that it would push the council to take action to get aid to starving people in Sudan, possibly by authorizing cross-border deliveries from Chad.” claims Reuters in its article on March 30, 2024.
