Urgent international response can halt Sudan's 'freight train of suffering': UN

​​​​​​​HAMILTON, Canada

The UN on Tuesday demanded an urgent response from the international community for the immediate needs in Sudan to stop the "freight train of suffering" as "an absolute catastrophe" unfolds.

"The humanitarian situation in Sudan remains an absolute catastrophe. A staggering 26 million people are in acute hunger. That's the equivalent of New York." Edem Wosornu, director of the operations and advocacy division at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), told the Security Council.

Saying that over 10 million Sudanese have been forcefully displaced amid violence and hunger, Wosornu said at least 726,000 were displaced from the southeast in the last six weeks.

She warned about the increasing risk of cholera and waterborne diseases as the "health care system has collapsed."

Describing it as a "man-made crisis and a shameful stain" on the global conscience, she warned that "an entire generation of children is missing out on a second straight year of their education."

Aside from hunger, Wosornu said, "The conflict has also destroyed the essential infrastructure needed to survive."

"We have grave concerns about war crimes being committed throughout this conflict," she said, adding that suicide rates are increasing as the number of children born from rape is surging.

She also highlighted the dire situation facing aid workers, saying that they “continue to be harassed, attacked, and even killed."

Noting that vital supplies such as food, medicine and fuel have been looted and extorted, Wosornu revealed that trucks carrying therapeutic food have been blocked for more than one month by the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group in North Darfur.

Meanwhile, permission to use "crucial" crossing points between Eastern Chad and Darfur was revoked by Sudanese authorities earlier this year, severely hindering the delivery of essential supplies.

Wosornu noted the lack of funding for humanitarian appeal and asked: "How can we possibly mitigate this humanitarian situation, let alone fight back famine without adequate support?"

Despite the challenges, she remains hopeful. "It is still possible to stop this freight train of suffering that is charging through Sudan, but only if we respond with the urgency that this moment demands," she said.

Wosornu reiterated four key demands, including an end to the conflict, adherence to international humanitarian law, rapid and safe humanitarian access and increased funding.

"The people of Sudan desperately need and deserve more than our words. They need this Council. They need all member states and they need the wider international community to act and to pull Sudan back from this abyss," she said.

Stephen Omollo, assistant executive director at the World Food Program, also stressed the "humanitarian disaster" in Sudan.

"We have been clear that famine is real and dangerous, possibly caused by the raging conflict, widespread displacement and above all, the denial of humanitarian access by the warring parties," he said.

Emphasizing that Sudanese people are facing "catastrophic levels of food insecurity," Omollo told the Council that at least 730,000 children are estimated to face "severe acute malnutrition this year."

He said the crisis has not received "the political and diplomatic attention it desperately needs," and "it has wider implications and threatens to destabilize the wider region."

"We need the Security Council to focus on this crisis and use its influence on the worrying parties to halt the conflict that is tearing Sudan apart," he said.