ICRC reports widespread food shortages in Sudan as people face clashes, climate shocks and COVID-19

01 Novembre 2020

Khartoum, Sudan, October 31 (Infosplusgabon)- A senior official of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) who has just concluded a week-long visit to Sudan says one in every four people in the country faces food shortage as a result of combination of  adverse climatic, natural and man-made reasons.

According to the global humanitarian body,  clashes, climate shocks and COVID-19 are driving more Sudanese into poverty and threatening the health and well-being of hundreds of thousands of people who were already reeling from decades of conflict and violence.

A press release issued by the ICRC on Friday said “one in four Sudanese are estimated to face food shortages today as prices climb and clashes, droughts and floods destroy people’s ability to farm.”

Gilles Carbonnier, ICRC vice president, said at the end of a visit to the country this week, that communities in Blue Nile, South Kordufan and Darfur regions survived years of war and now face a layered crisis in which sporadic violence, climate change, economic collapse, and COVID-19 are forcing more people to rely on humanitarian aid for their survival.

Mr Carbonnier said that "communities are caught between extremes as clashes, droughts, and floods rob people of their homes and livelihoods again and again."

"The result is that millions of people in Blue Nile, South Kordufan and Darfur do not have enough food, water, medical care or other necessities to survive, a crisis made more complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic, price inflation, and a shortage of basic commodities."

Mr Carbonnier visited Kass locality in South Darfur, where the ICRC is distributing household essentials to 15,600 people who have returned to the area after being displaced by clashes.

While in Sudan, he also met with the Chairman of Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council, Lt-Gen Abdul Fattah al-Burhan; Deputy Head of the Transitional Sovereign Council, Lt-Gen Mohammed Hamdan Daglo; Minister of Justice, Dr. Nasraldeen Abdelbari; South Darfur Governor Mousa Mahdi; Secretary General of SPLM/N Yasir Arman, and Secretary General of the Sudanese Red Crescent Society Dr. Afaf Ahmed Yahya.

According to the release, it was estimated that "around a quarter of the 40 million Sudanese need immediate humanitarian assistance."

At the same time, despite the signing of the peace agreement in Juba, the risk of renewed clashes in parts of Darfur and eastern Sudan remains as tensions simmer, occasionally flaring up into clashes that drive people from their homes.

"We must continue to have access to long-neglected communities like Kass that urgently need support," Mr Carbonnier said.

"However, humanitarian assistance alone will not end the cycle of violence, displacement and hunger that has trapped millions of Sudanese for decades. We call on those taking part in clashes to respect people's lives and property so that they can start to rebuild their lives."

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