Sudan, now it’s famine in Darfur: in the Zamzam camp – there are more than 400,000 displaced people and the threshold of livability has long been exceeded

ROMA – After more than 15 months of war in Sudan, a tragic and catastrophic combination of conflict, displacement and restricted humanitarian access has led to famine in Phase 5 (the peak) the hundreds of thousands of displaced people in the Zamzam camp in the Sudanese region of North Darfur. The conclusion of the Famine Review Committee (Famine Review Committee – FRC), which says that Zamzam camp is indeed experiencing a famine, the first such certification by the Committee in more than seven years and only the third time it has been determined since the monitoring system was established 20 years ago. The FRC warns that other areas of Sudan are at risk of famine without concerted action.

The 755 thousand people reduced to starvation. The announcement of famine confirms the fears of the humanitarian community and follows an analysis of the ‘Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) for June showing a dramatic decline in food and nutrition security, with 755,000 people facing catastrophic hunger. TheUNICEF and the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned of the growing risk to the people of Sudan, particularly children, unless urgent assistance is provided to communities trapped in conflict hotspots such as Darfur, Khartoum, Kordofan and Al Jazirah. The situation remains critical across the country, with an estimated 730,000 children facing severe acute malnutrition (SAM) this year, the most life-threatening form of malnutrition.

Famine spreads across the country. A declaration of famine means that people, including children, have already started dying from hunger and related conditions, including malnutrition and infections. Unlike the Darfur crisis two decades ago, this conflict-fueled hunger crisis extends across the country, including the capital Khartoum and Jazirah State, once Sudan’s breadbasket.

The drama of aid that cannot be guaranteed. Severely limited humanitarian access is a major driver of famine conditions in Zamzam. While UNICEF was able to deliver enough life-saving Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) to El Fasher in July to treat nearly 4,000 severely malnourished children, including a supply for Zamzam camp, the continued lack of safe and sustained access means that needs remain enormous and the capacity to deliver humanitarian supplies is unpredictable. “We urgently need a massive expansion of humanitarian access to stop the famine that has taken hold in North Darfur and prevent it from spreading across Sudan,” said Cindy McCain, WFP Executive Director.

The appeal to the parties in conflict. It is therefore urgent that the warring parties lift all restrictions and open new supply routes across borders and conflict lines, so that humanitarian agencies can reach cut-off communities with desperately needed food and other humanitarian assistance. WFP also calls on the international community to act now for a genuine ceasefire in this brutal conflict.

The danger of “Phase 5”. The classification IPC Phase 5 Famine is the highest stage on the IPC scale of acute food insecurity and is defined as: an area has at least one in five households facing extreme food insecurity; at least 30 percent of children are acutely malnourished; and two in 10,000 people die every day from hunger or the interaction of malnutrition and disease. In 2024, WFP provided food and cash assistance to more than 4 million internally displaced people, refugees and vulnerable communities across Sudan, including 1.7 million in June alone. With fighting intensifying in El Fasher, Khartoum and now Sennar State, the humanitarian community is struggling to provide assistance at scale, as humanitarian needs increase to extraordinary levels. The rainy season is adding another layer of complexity, as roads flood and become impassable.

The most difficult areas to reach. In hard-to-reach areas, such as the capital Khartoum, WFP is supporting community kitchens through local partners and expanding cash assistance, including a pilot self-registration project for Khartoum residents. Fighting around Sinja, the capital of Sennar State, has triggered a new wave of displacement and cut off key aid routes.