WASHINGTON, Oct 26 — Dozens of countries including the United States (US) and major European powers said Sudan is experiencing an alarming deterioration in its food security and urged parties to the conflict in the country "to lift all impediments on humanitarian assistance."
The countries jointly said that in the face of a potential famine, they are calling on the international community to scale up funding and urging financial institutions to adapt their ongoing programs to the food security situation.
"Sudan is experiencing an alarming deterioration in its food security. The risk of famine in the coming months, as warned by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, needs urgent action.
"The parties to the conflict bear primary responsibility for alleviating the suffering of the Sudanese people," the joint statement released by the US State Department said.
Sudan's Army has been fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023, when the two fell out over issues including how to integrate their forces in a planned transition to civilian rule.
In June, the United Nations (UN)-backed global hunger monitor, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, said 5.1 million people in Sudan faced severe hunger. Farmers have struggled to harvest their crops since the civil war flared in 2023 and have also recently been battling a drought.
The joint statement urged parties in the conflict to authorise humanitarian operations through all cross-line and cross-border routes, including air access into Darfur.
It also called on them to "sustain presence and protection of humanitarian personnel" throughout Sudan and refrain from strikes on civilian infrastructure.
The statement was signed by the US, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness, and Crisis Management, among others.
Last month, the US State Department said that neither the Sudanese Armed Forces, the Rapid RSF paramilitary, nor their respective leaders "represent legitimate, constitutional governance for Sudan."
The war has displaced more than 14 million people and unleashed waves of ethnically driven killings.
In July, a UN probe said that RSF forces carried out mass killings, rapes, and forced starvation in a city they besieged and captured last year, as part of an intentional policy amounting to genocide.
Washington has also accused the RSF of committing genocide and the army of carrying out war crimes. Both have previously denied abuses.
