Top diplomats meet in Paris to mobilize aid for Sudan, wrecked by war and on the brink of famine

Sudan’s year-long conflict has wreaked havoc and driven its people to the verge of starvation. Leading humanitarian organizations and diplomats will gather in Paris on Monday to mobilize humanitarian help for the country in northeastern Africa in an effort to stop more suffering and collapse.

Conflict broke out in Sudan in April of last year as long-simmering hostilities between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces broke out in open combat in the nation’s capital, Khartoum, as well as other locations.

This year, the U.N. humanitarian effort will require almost $2.7 billion to provide food, medical care, and other supplies to 24 million Sudanese citizens, or about half of the country’s 51 million inhabitants. Only $145 million, or roughly 5%, of the total funds have been provided thus far, according to OCHA, the U.N. humanitarian office.

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 Sudanese refugees gather to fill cans with water from a water point in the Farchana refugee camp, on April 8, 2024. (Photo by Joris Bolomey / AFP)

Initially, the United States and Saudi Arabia took the lead in trying to resolve the situation through negotiation. However, the attempts were unsuccessful, and since October the combat has been eclipsed by the Gaza War, which poses a threat of spreading into a wider regional conflict.

Relief workers caution that Sudan is rapidly approaching a more widespread famine, potentially resulting in a large-scale death toll in the upcoming months. Aid organizations are unable to access the most affected areas due to the collapse of the food production and delivery networks.

Numerous accounts of atrocities, such as rape, deaths, and relocation, have also been widely reported during the conflict; these stories are especially common in the western Darfur region and the capital area.

OCHA estimates that at least 37% of people living in crisis situations or higher experience hunger. In the upcoming months, starvation could claim the lives of around 230,000 children, pregnant women, and new moms, according to a warning from Save the Children.

According to the UN, around 9 million people have been forced to leave their homes in search of safety within Sudan or in neighboring countries.