The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has issued a dire warning that life-saving food assistance for Sudanese refugees in several countries could cease within two months due to severe funding shortages.
The impending crisis affects over four million refugees who have fled Sudan’s ongoing civil war, seeking refuge in neighbouring nations such as Uganda, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, and the Central African Republic.
The conflict in Sudan, which began in April 2023 between the national army and paramilitary rebels, has led to approximately 40,000 deaths and displaced nearly 13 million people.
Within Sudan, nearly half the population faces acute food insecurity, with malnutrition claiming the lives of 239 children in El Fasher over the past six months due to food and medicine shortages and attacks on nutritional supply facilities.
In neighbouring countries, the situation is equally dire. In Uganda, many vulnerable refugees are surviving on less than 500 calories a day, less than a quarter of their daily nutritional needs, as new arrivals strain refugee support systems.
In Chad, which hosts almost a quarter of the four million refugees who fled Sudan, food rations will be reduced in the coming months without new contributions.
Children are particularly vulnerable to sustained periods of hunger, and malnutrition rates among young refugees in reception centres in Uganda and South Sudan have already breached emergency thresholds.
Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated on the latest news and updates from around the Muslim world!
Funding
The WFP has emphasised the urgent need for $200 million over the next six months to maintain current aid levels.
Without additional funding, the agency will be forced to make further cuts to food assistance, leaving vulnerable families, and particularly children, at increasingly severe risk of hunger and malnutrition.
Shaun Hughes, WFP Emergency Coordinator for the Sudan Regional Crisis, stated: “Millions of people who have fled Sudan depend wholly on support from WFP, but without additional funding we will be forced to make further cuts to food assistance.”
He described the situation as a “full-blown regional crisis” playing out in countries that already have extreme levels of food insecurity and high levels of conflict.
The international community is urged to respond to the worsening humanitarian catastrophe and ensure aid corridors are opened.
The WFP and other humanitarian organisations are calling for increased contributions to prevent further deterioration of the situation and to provide the necessary support to those affected by this crisis.
They says as the situation continues to evolve, it is crucial for the global community to come together and provide the necessary resources to alleviate the suffering of Sudanese refugees and to support the countries hosting them.
