Sudan Faces Humanitarian Crisis as Needs Escalate, Funding Wanes
Sudan is facing an
unprecedented humanitarian crisis because of poor harvests, skyrocketing
prices, political instability and lack of financial support, U.N. agencies
warn.
Nearly one-third of
Sudan's roughly 45 million people do not have enough to eat. And the World Food
Program, or WFP, warns the number of hungry people is likely to rise to 18
million by the end of the month if donors do not come up with the money to feed
them.
WFP Sudan
Representative and country director Eddie Rowe said Sudan imports about 80
percent of its wheat from Ukraine. He said the war in Ukraine has sent the
price of food, fuel and other basic commodities soaring, and is making it more
difficult to get the money needed for humanitarian operations.
Rowe said the WFP is
broke and has been forced to cut food rations in half for 2.4 million
beneficiaries in Sudan. This includes 600,000 refugees who are completely
dependent on international aid.
"We are on the
verge of suspending or halting critical other activities," he warned.
"For example, we plan to reach 2 million students with school meals, and
this seems to be a far-fetched reality given that we do not have funding."
UNICEF's representative
in Sudan, Mandeep O'Brien, said Sudan is facing a malnutrition crisis as well
as a hunger crisis.
"Three million
children under 5 years of age are acutely malnourished in Sudan," O'Brien
said. "As we speak today, 650,000 kids are suffering from severe acute
malnutrition. If not treated, half of them will die."
She noted that tens of
thousands of children have missed out on lifesaving vaccines because of the
COVID-19 pandemic, and 7 million children are out of school.
U.N. agencies warn the
time to provide lifesaving assistance for 10.9 million of Sudan's most
vulnerable people is fast running out. They note only 36 percent of the U.N.'s
$1.9 billion Humanitarian Response Plan for this ye
VOA
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