UN Leaders Warn of Catastrophic Famine Spreading Across Sudan

Edem Wosornu, director of operations and advocacy at the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, reported that over 11.5 million people are internally displaced. The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification data confirms famine conditions in the Zamzam, Abu Shouk, and Al Salam camps, as well as the Western Nuba Mountains. Projections indicate this starvation will likely expand through May 2025 into North Darfur localities, including El Fasher and Melit.

Beth Bechdol, deputy director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization, characterized these findings as the worst in the country's history. She noted that Sudan represents only the fourth confirmed famine globally in the last 15 years, following crises in Somalia and South Sudan. While aid agencies struggle to maintain operations—recently marred by the deaths of three World Food Program staff in an aerial bombardment—the Sudanese government has suspended cooperation with the global hunger monitor. U.N. officials are now calling on the Security Council to leverage political pressure to secure humanitarian access and end the hostilities that remain the primary engine of this catastrophe.