Western Nations Warn of Famine Risk in Sudan as Hunger Deepens

The United States and 30 other countries warned Monday of an “alarming deterioration” in food security in Sudan and urged the warring sides in the country’s civil war to remove obstacles to humanitarian aid in order to prevent famine, the BBC reported. Al Jazeera reported that the European Union also joined the joint statement, which the U.S. State Department released.

The statement says the risk of famine in the coming months, flagged by the U.N.-backed hunger monitor known as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, calls for urgent action. The signatories also asked the wider international community to increase funding as needs grow.

Sudan’s hunger crisis in numbers

• 19.5 million people: The statement estimates that this many people, or 41% of Sudan’s population, are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, according to the BBC.
• Five million: That is how many of those people face emergency levels of hunger, the BBC reported.
• 5.1 million: In June, the IPC said this many people in Sudan faced severe hunger, according to both the BBC and Al Jazeera.
• 825,000: The statement warns that without immediate action, the number of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition could exceed this projected figure.
• 40%: Yusuf Roble, regional director for Islamic Relief East Africa, told the BBC that only this share of Sudan’s 2026 humanitarian needs plan had been funded as of September.
• 13 million or 14 million: Reports differ on how many people the war has displaced. Al Jazeera put the figure at more than 13 million, while the BBC reported 14 million.

What is driving the hunger

The signatories said conflict is the main driver of the crisis, damaging critical infrastructure and disrupting food production. Al Jazeera reported that farmers have struggled to harvest crops since the war began.

Two other factors are making things worse, according to the reports. The signatories point to what they describe as systematic obstruction of aid. The BBC reported that El Niño has reduced rainfall and increased drought across more than half of Sudan, and Al Jazeera said the IPC found that drought linked to El Niño pushed up food prices and cut supplies this year.

Sudan’s army has been fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April 2023, when a dispute over how to integrate the two forces turned into clashes in the capital, Khartoum, according to Al Jazeera. The network said the war has killed tens of thousands of people and created the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises. The BBC noted that the World Health Organization has described the conflict as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

What the statement asks of the warring sides

The statement says the parties to the conflict bear primary responsibility for easing the suffering of the Sudanese people. It calls on them to lift all impediments to humanitarian assistance and to allow full, safe, rapid and unimpeded access.

According to Al Jazeera, the signatories also urged the fighting groups to:

• allow aid operations through all routes across front lines and borders, including air access to the Darfur region;
• sustain the presence and protection of humanitarian workers throughout Sudan; and
• refrain from hitting civilian infrastructure.

Signatories named by Al Jazeera include Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany, along with the European Commissioner for equality, preparedness and crisis management. The BBC added that Switzerland and Norway signed, and that the statement first appeared on the website of the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department.

Why it matters for people on the ground

Aid workers say the numbers translate into daily hardship. Roble told the BBC that people returning to Omdurman are finding their homes destroyed or looted, saying there is “very little to survive on.”

He described meeting a mother of seven children who has not known her husband’s whereabouts for years. Her husband had been the family’s sole breadwinner, Roble said. Families like hers rely on community kitchens, he added, and those kitchens lack long-term support because of funding cuts.

The funding gap he cited is one reason the signatories appealed to other governments to scale up money for the response, alongside their demand that fighting groups open access routes. Without both, the statement suggests, the number of acutely malnourished children could climb above the figure aid agencies now project.

Around Prague, based on reporting by Al Jazeera, BBC News