At least 25 million people are struggling with soaring rates of hunger and malnutrition as the crisis in Sudan sends shock waves around the region, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said Tuesday.
This, the agency said, is in addition to the thousands of families being displaced and forced across borders into neighboring Chad and South Sudan each week.
“The impact of this conflict spans three countries – Sudan, South Sudan, and Chad – and has created the world’s largest displacement crisis. Almost a year into the war and we’re seeing no signs that the number of families fleeing across borders will slow.
The children and women who are crossing to South Sudan or Chad are hungry and arriving with no resources,” said Michael Dunford, WFP’s Regional Director for Eastern Africa, from the South Sudanese border town of Renk, where around half a million of those fleeing the war have arrived.
Hunger and acute malnutrition have soared in Sudan since the conflict broke out.
There are 18 million acutely food insecure people within the country and around 3.8 million Sudanese children under 5 years old are malnourished, WFP disclosed.
Those arriving South Sudan are reportedly joining families already struggling with slashed rations and extreme hunger while malnutrition is increasing rapidly among children who are languishing in temporary transit camps.
Trends observed by WFP reportedly indicate that approximately 4% of children under 5 years of age crossing into South Sudan are malnourished on arrival.
“Unless this conflict is resolved, unfettered access is granted to humanitarian agencies, and funding is received, this crisis will only worsen,” stressed Dunford.
