Sudan

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

Halting famine in Sudan requires political will and leadership, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as speakers urged the warring parties to heed the international community’s repeated calls to stop fighting and avoid a further deterioration of the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

Life-saving supplies in Port Sudan are ready to be loaded and dispatched to Zamzam camp in North Darfur, where famine conditions are present, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ Director of Operations told the Security Council today, stressing swift approvals and security assurances are crucial.

The international community must tackle the climate of impunity that is fuelling mass violence in Sudan, the Security Council heard today as it considered the work of the International Criminal Court in investigating crimes committed in that country.

In Zimbabwe, 7.6 million people are at risk of acute hunger due to a historic El Niño-induced drought that has destroyed over half of the harvest. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and aid partners are supporting Government efforts to help affected communities and build long-term resilience.

Zamzam camp in North Darfur — which shelters over 220,000 displaced people — has now crossed the famine threshold, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, report on food security in Sudan. More than half the country’s population — 26 million people — now face acute hunger.

Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator Joyce Msuya has allocated $5.3 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to support some 195,000 vulnerable Sudanese refugees and host communities in Libya. More than 15 months of conflict in Sudan has forced one fifth of the country’s population to flee.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that more than 200,000 people — that is about 9 per cent of Gaza’s current population — have now been displaced over the last week in the wake of evacuation orders issued by the Israel Defense Forces.

In Chad, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that the country is grappling with an array of challenges that are driving humanitarian needs. These include the arrival of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the conflict in neighbouring Sudan.

In Ethiopia, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and UN agencies are conducting a humanitarian assessment today of the displacement and damage caused by heavy rains and landslides impacting over 14,000 people, with the aim of bringing food, medicine and water, sanitation and hygiene support.