Sudanese NGO Urges UN to Declare Famine, Citing Alarming Hunger Levels

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A Sudanese non-governmental organization has called on the United Nations to declare a famine in Sudan, stating that the hunger rate in the country has surpassed the threshold for declaring a famine, which is 20% of the population.

The Idea Organization for Studies and Development stated in a press release last Monday, "We urge the United Nations and its humanitarian agencies to declare a state of acute famine in Sudan at the national level and to address the situation in Sudan accordingly."

The UN agencies and international relief systems were urged to enhance relief efforts related to the humanitarian disaster in Sudan and the increasing suffering of Sudanese women and men, emphasizing that the world should give it the attention it deserves.

The organization explained that over 24 million Sudanese (approximately 60% of the total population) are in direct need of humanitarian assistance, with around 19.9 million Sudanese (49.75% of the total population) urgently requiring food aid. Furthermore, 17.7 million of them are in a state of acute food deficiency.

It added that the famine has struck various parts of the country at varying rates. The percentage of civilians affected by severe food shortages compared to the total population is 60% in West Darfur State, 55% in the capital Khartoum, and 48% in South Kordofan State. Even in areas untouched by the war, such as Kassala State, the percentage of citizens affected by food shortages reached 43%, and in agricultural states like Gezira State, it reached 31%.

The organization emphasized that the cultivated land area this year has decreased to 37% compared to previous years. An attack by the Rapid Support Forces on Gezira State last December disrupted the cultivation of one million acres of food crops in the current agricultural season. The disruption of supply chains for agricultural inputs also led to at least a 70% reduction in the wheat-planted area.