UN Women warns nearly 11M women, girls in Sudan face acute food insecurity

GENEVA

The UN Women on Tuesday called for urgent action to protect and prioritize women and girls in Sudan, where the ongoing conflict and deepening hunger crisis have left millions in peril.

"For over two consecutive years, every front line in Sudan has cut through the bodies, homes, livelihoods, and futures of women and girls, who have endured the sharpest edge of Sudan's horrific conflict," Anna Mutavati, UN Women regional director for East and Southern Africa, told journalists in Geneva.

According to the UN Women's latest Gender Dimensions of Food Insecurity in Sudan alert, nearly 11 million women and girls are now acutely food insecure.

"Simply being a woman in Sudan is a strong predictor of hunger," Mutavati said.

As fighting intensifies in El Fasher and food insecurity spreads across Darfur, women and girls face "extreme hunger, displacement, death, and sexual and gender-based violence," she added.

The situation has further deteriorated with famine officially declared by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) in El Fasher and Kadugli as of November.

According to UN Women's findings, 73.7% of women "do not meet minimum dietary diversity, reflecting extremely poor diets and a heightened risk of malnutrition."

Mutavati stressed the urgent need to ensure that the specific needs of women and girls are addressed in humanitarian responses, emphasizing that they are among the hardest hit by Sudan's escalating crisis.

She also called for an immediate halt to all violence in Sudan, safe corridors for women, girls, and all civilians, prioritization of women and female-headed households in food assistance, and restoration and rebuilding of their livelihoods by humanitarian actors.

"All parties to protect women and girls and uphold their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law," she said. "UN Women urges donors to recognize, resource, and partner with women-led organizations."

Sudan faces a worsening humanitarian crisis amid a bloody conflict between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023, which has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions of people.

On Oct. 26, the RSF seized control of El-Fasher and committed massacres, according to local and international organizations, amid warnings that the assault could entrench the country’s geographical partition.