Famine Spreads to Five Sudan Regions, Impacting 24.6 Million Amid War and Displacement

Dec 24, 2024, 11:18 AM

The United Nations has warned that over 40 million people in West and Central Africa face hunger at emergency levels. In Sudan, the situation is dire as famine spreads to five regions, affecting approximately 24.6 million people who require urgent food assistance until February next year, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report. The IPC reported that 15.9 million are in the crisis phase, 1.8 million in the emergency phase, and 638,000 in the catastrophic phase. The war in Sudan, involving the military and a notorious paramilitary group, has exacerbated the famine crisis, leading to the world's largest displacement crisis. The conflict has also driven thousands to flee to neighboring countries, overwhelming border regions and camps in South Sudan and Libya. In South Sudan, the influx of refugees has led to critical shortages of food, clean water, shelter, and healthcare, with cholera outbreaks reported. Libya is also struggling to accommodate the increasing number of Sudanese refugees, with UNHCR scaling up its response to meet the growing humanitarian needs.