Sudan catastrophe threatens to engulf region: UN

GENEVA: The humanitarian catastrophe in conflict-ravaged Sudan threatens to engulf the entire region, the United Nations warned on Friday after famine was declared in the North Darfur region.

War between the army and rival paramilitaries has pushed the Zamzam camp near the besieged city of El-Fasher into famine, the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) review said on Thursday.

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, urged international donors to step up support for Sudan, where civil war has raged since April 2023 and left tens of thousands dead according to the UN.

“The warning signs were there for months,” said Mamadou Dian Balde, UNHCR´s regional refugee coordinator for the Sudan situation.

“Displaced women, children and men are dying of hunger, malnutrition and disease,” he said.

“With appalling human rights atrocities, the forced displacement of over 10 million people since the start of the war last year, and the lack of the most basic services for a large percentage of the population, the world´s most pressing humanitarian catastrophe is growing and deepening every day, threatening to engulf the whole region.”