The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) warned on Wednesday that the devastating, nearly year-long conflict between Sudanese army commanders is creating the world's largest hunger crisis, with the world's attention focused on the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The war in Sudan has devastated the lives of millions across the northeast African country, said Cindy McCain, head of the World Food Programme.
The United Nations Food Program said that about 18 million people across Sudan face acute hunger, with the most desperate people remaining trapped behind the front lines. She added that 5 million of them are facing famine.
It is worth noting that Sudan descended into a state of chaos in mid-April when clashes broke out in the capital, Khartoum, between the country's army, led by Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces, led by Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
The conflict led to the displacement of more than 10 million people either to safer areas inside Sudan or to neighboring countries, according to United Nations agencies. South Sudan received 600,000 people who fled fighting in Sudan.
Once in South Sudan, one in five children suffer from malnutrition, the World Food Program said.
McCain called on the warring parties to stop fighting and allow humanitarian agencies to provide life-saving aid. The World Food Program said aid was further disrupted after authorities canceled permits for cross-border truck convoys. This led to the suspension of shipping operations from Chad to Darfur.
McCain warned that the consequences of inaction go far beyond a mother's inability to feed her child, and will shape the region for years to come.
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