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Displaced Sudanese families wait to
receive food from a charity kitchen in the city of Omdurman, Sudan, in April. |
REUTERS
A early assessment used by UN agencies and relief organizations to decide whether to formally declare a famine in Sudan puts the number of people who could experience catastrophic food shortages by September at 756,000.
As of June 1 and as
observed by Reuters, the preliminary results show that the situation in the
war-torn nation is rapidly getting worse. 17.7 million People, or 37% of the
population, experienced significant levels of food insecurity, according to the
most recent projection, which was made public in December. However, none of
these individuals were deemed to be in a catastrophic scenario.
There are currently
almost nine million people in emergency situations or worse, and an estimated
25.6 million people, or 54% of the population, suffer acute shortages.
The most recent estimate
is tentative and subject to change. The U.N. and other international
organizations, as well as the government of Sudan, which is ruled by the
military, must approve it. The government has said in the past that there is no
hunger in the nation.
The Integrated Food
Security Phase Classification (IPC), a Rome-based organization that was founded
by aid organizations, regional organizations, and U.N. agencies, completed the
updated analysis. It's anticipated that the data will be lacking. In March, the
IPC stated that its capacity to conduct evaluations was being hampered by
security risks, obstacles, and telecommunications failures in Sudan.
Displaced Sudanese families wait to
receive food from a charity kitchen in the city of Omdurman, Sudan, in April. |
REUTERS
The IPC, which analyzes
food insecurity and malnutrition data, hopes to publish a report on Sudan in
the next several weeks, according to people familiar with the matter.
Fatima Eltahir, a
Sudanese government official who is also the IPC’s chairwoman in Sudan, told
Reuters: “We are not done yet. There are no final results.”
The analysis is
"ongoing," according to IPC spokeswoman Lavonne Cloke, and it's
unclear when it will be completed.
The most recent forecast
for Sudan is released at a time when there is a major food crisis in Gaza,
another war area. About half of Gaza's population, or 1.1 million people, were
predicted to face severe food insecurity in March, according to the IPC, which
declared famine to be near.
Fighting erupted in
Sudan's capital city of Khartoum in April 2023, swiftly spreading throughout
the nation and driving millions of people to escape the region's ethnic
violence in the western Darfur region. The United Nations migration agency
announced this week that over 10 million people are internally displaced in
Sudan as a result of ongoing and previous conflicts.
The country is already
experiencing the world’s largest displacement crisis.
Last month, U.N. agencies
also said Sudan was at "imminent risk of famine.” About 3.6 million
children are acutely malnourished, according to a joint statement by U.N.
chiefs, including the high commissioner for human rights.
Whether a famine will be
declared in Sudan remains unclear. Governments sometimes challenge famine data
and projections. To date, U.N. agencies and other organizations only have
declared famines twice since the IPC warning system was created 20 years ago:
in Somalia in 2011, and in South Sudan in 2017.
The determination of
whether to declare a famine is based on a scale used by the IPC that has five
classifications, ranging from Phase 1, which reflects no serious food issues,
to Phase 5, which represents either a catastrophe or, even worse, a famine.
Phases 3, 4 and 5 are all considered crisis situations or worse.
A complicated set of
technical factors, such as measures of famine, malnutrition, and mortality, are
used to calculate the rankings. Among other requirements, more than two deaths
per 10,000 people are occurring in regions officially classified as Phase 5 hunger
zones.
According to the most
recent preliminary IPC projection for Sudan, an estimated 756,000 people in the
country will experience a Phase 5 catastrophe between June and September. This
indicates that although the nation isn't officially experiencing a widespread
famine, a serious situation nevertheless exists.
The projection pinpointed
thirty-two locations and clusters where the populace was experiencing severe
food shortages. They included two areas where 15% of the population faced IPC 5
catastrophic conditions – the city of al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur;
and a nearby camp for internally displaced people called Zamzam. Three other
areas were cited where 10% of the population had reached the threshold.
Many of the areas in the
projection were seized by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which
has been fighting the Sudanese army.
On Tuesday, a top U.S.
diplomat told Reuters that parts of Sudan are already in famine, adding that
the extent of extreme hunger remained unclear.
"I think we know we
are in famine," said Tom Perriello, the U.S. special envoy to Sudan.
"I think the question is how much famine, how much of the country, and for
how long."
Source: Reuters
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