The United States and 30 Western nations have issued a stark warning about the rapidly worsening food insecurity in Sudan, calling on warring factions to facilitate humanitarian access to avert famine.
In a coordinated joint statement, the signatories emphasized that the ongoing conflict is the primary driver of Sudan’s escalating hunger crisis, crippling essential infrastructure and severely disrupting agricultural productivity.
“There is very little to survive on,” said Yusuf Roble, Regional Director for Islamic Relief East Africa, in an interview with BBC Newsday, highlighting the dire conditions faced by families returning to areas like Omdurman, where homes lie in ruins or have been looted.
The war, which erupted in April 2023, has now displaced over 14 million people within Sudan and into neighboring countries.
The statement, endorsed by EU member states along with the UK, Canada, Switzerland, and Norway, was jointly published by the U.S. State Department and the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations.
According to the declaration, approximately 19.5 million people—representing 41% of Sudan’s total population—are currently experiencing alarming levels of food insecurity, with five million individuals facing emergency-level hunger.
“I encountered a mother of seven young children who hasn’t seen her husband in over three and a half years; he was the family’s sole provider,” Roble recounted, underscoring the personal toll of the protracted conflict.
Despite the World Health Organization classifying the situation in Sudan as the globe’s most severe humanitarian emergency, Roble noted that only 40% of the country’s 2026 humanitarian response plan had received funding as of September.
“Communities are dependent on local kitchens for daily meals, but these programs lack sustainable funding due to widespread donor shortfalls,” Roble explained.
The joint appeal cautions that without urgent intervention, the number of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition may surpass the projected figure of 825,000.
Compounding the crisis, the statement highlighted systematic barriers to aid delivery and the impact of El Niño, which has intensified drought conditions across more than half of Sudan.
“The parties involved in the conflict bear primary responsibility for easing the suffering of the Sudanese people,” the statement asserted, urging all sides to eliminate obstacles impeding humanitarian efforts and ensure full, safe, and unhindered access.
In June, the UN-coordinated Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system reported that 5.1 million people across Sudan were facing catastrophic hunger levels.
The conflict in Sudan ignited in April 2023 following escalating tensions between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
