Sudan is experiencing escalating rates of hunger and malnutrition as the consequences of conflict and displacement spread through the region. At least 25 million people in the region are affected by food insecurity, according to the United Nations World Food Program, or WFP.
"The impact of this conflict spans three countries — Sudan, South Sudan and Chad — and has created the world's largest displacement crisis," said Michael Dunford, WFP's regional director for Eastern Africa. "Almost a year into the war and we're seeing no signs that the number of families fleeing across borders will slow. The children and women who are crossing to South Sudan or Chad are hungry and arriving with no resources."
WFP and other aid organizations have struggled to consistently meet the people's needs since the onset of the crisis in areas isolated by conflict. An estimated 18 million people within Sudan experience food insecurity and malnutrition, including 3.8 million Sudanese children under 5 years old.
An increasing rate of malnutrition is occurring in children living in temporary transit camps. According to WFP, 4% of children fleeing to South Sudan are malnourished when they arrive. The figure increases to 25% in the transit center near the border between Sudan and South Sudan. Even if those impacted can escape, they flee to places like South Sudan or Chad, who have humanitarian issues of their own.
"Unless this conflict is resolved, unfettered access is granted to humanitarian agencies, and funding is received, this crisis will only worsen," said Dunford.
"We need to be able to provide support to families in Sudan to avoid the world's largest displacement crisis turning into a hunger catastrophe as we approach the lean season," he said.
More than 553,000 Sudanese refugees have fled to Chad since the conflict started, with 40% of the children who arrive at an emergency clinic at a reception camp experiencing acute malnutrition. The rate of malnutrition in the refugee camps in Chad is above the WHO emergency threshold of 15% percent, limiting access to care for refugees who arrived before the onset of the Sudanese crisis.
While the rates of malnutrition continue to increase, it gets more difficult for WFP to provide care due to a nearly $300 million funding gap over the next six months.
Some information for this report was provided by the United Nations World Food Program.
