Sudan

Sudan risks becoming the world’s largest hunger crisis in recent history as conflict continues to rage, destroying livelihoods, infrastructure, trade routes and supply chains.

A protracted famine is taking hold – the only place in the world at this level of hunger – and without humanitarian assistance, hundreds of thousands could die.

Famine was first confirmed in August 2024 in Zamzam IDP camp. Hundreds of thousands of lives are at risk. Families trapped inside the besieged state capital, El Fasher, face starvation, with the World Food Programme (WFP) unable to deliver food assistance by road for over a year.  

A total of 24.6 million people (around half the population) are acutely food insecure, while 637,000 (the highest anywhere in the world) face catastrophic levels of hunger. 

Over 1 in 3 children are facing acute malnutrition – above the 20 percent threshold for a famine confirmation.

Sudan also faces the worst displacement crisis in the world, with 10 million people forced from their homes by conflict.

WFP has dramatically scaled up support and is reaching over 4 million people a month – including 1.5 million in the hardest-hit areas across Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum and Al Jazira.

However, conflict, access challenges, administrative impediments and attacks against aid convoys are preventing us from reaching some of the hardest-hit areas.

We urgently need a humanitarian pause for El Fasher and Kadugli. We have trucks and food ready to reach the most vulnerable as soon as we have safe passage.

Compounding these huge challenges, the gap between humanitarian needs and existing resources is massive. Millions are being cut off from life-saving aid as WFP is forced to prioritize people facing the most extreme levels of hunger.

In areas where assistance has been cut, our teams on the ground are already seeing a rise in malnutrition.

WFP urgently requires US$658 million over the next six months to further scale up assistance to 8 million people per month.