Update June 27: Read new IPC report on Sudan here
At a tent settlement in the Chadian border town of Adre, Ahmat feeds blue cloth into his foot-powered sewing machine, as a popular folksong from his native Sudan plays in loops over a loudspeaker.
“The situation is desperate and quickly deteriorating. WFP is currently reaching some 2.5 million people. We have the capacity to scale up and expand our assistance, but for that we need all parties to facilitate access – both across the warring front lines, as well as cross-border from Chad and South Sudan,” said WFP’s Deputy Executive Director, Carl Skau following a mission to Sudan this week.
Famine has been confirmed in a camp sheltering hundreds of thousands of displaced people in Sudan’s North Darfur Region.
The declaration for Zamzam camp is a result of conflict, displacement and humanitarian access constraints.
This week, Heads of State and governments from the Caribbean and the Pacific met with the WFP delegation - led by Executive Director Cindy McCain - to highlight the need to address the existential threats faced by SIDS and to seize opportunities for resilient and sustainable development in these regions.
Famine has been confirmed in Zamzam camp, which shelters hundreds of thousands of displaced people in Sudan’s North Darfur Region, as conflict, displacement and humanitarian-access constraints have devastating consequences.
WFP is working tirelessly to get aid into the hands of people who are facing starvation, and we are saving thousands of lives every single day in Sudan. So far this year, we’ve supported 5.4 million people with life-saving food and nutrition assistance. As we speak, we are urgently getting basic staple foods into the hands of 180,000 people facing famine in Zamzam camp.
The English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean comprises several Small Island Developing States that face similar challenges in managing economic, financial, geographic and climate-related impacts that affect the food and nutrition security of the most vulnerable, particularly in crises.
Breaking: WFP Sudan latest
In the eastern city of Port Sudan, where tens of thousands of war-displaced seek shelter, frail infants with stick-thin arms chalk up dangerously high malnutrition levels. Hungry people pack schools and other makeshift housing centres, clinging to scant belongings from their old lives.
Whilst they contribute minimal global greenhouse gas emissions, rising sea levels and extreme weather events wreak havoc on lives, livelihoods and food security.
South Sudan is simultaneously drowning and drying as the climate crisis tightens its grip. An unprecedented flooding crisis has swallowed large swathes of the country while other parts are grappling with devastating drought.
More than 7 million people are food insecure, and 1.65 million children are malnourished.