UN issues concerning hunger alert in Sudan, Chad amid funding gaps
UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, delivers a press statement to media after a meeting of envoys from more than 20 countries on Afghanistan in Doha, Qatar, 02 May 2023. (Photo by Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
About 25 million people across Sudan, South Sudan and Chad are struggling with soaring rates of hunger and malnutrition as the crisis in Sudan sends shockwaves around the region, Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.
The ripple effects of Sudan’s instability are palpable, with individuals fleeing to neighbouring South Sudan and Chad, “hungry and arriving with no resources,”
Due to hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars of funding gaps, the World Food Programme issued a warning about the dire situation, Dujarric said.
He noted that the WFP’s difficult decision to “prioritise scarce resources to the new arrivals” means that “pre-existing refugees no longer receive assistance.
The UN’s persistent alarms over the humanitarian situation in Sudan underscore the urgency, with “18 million acutely food insecure people within the country,” many of whom are “trapped in areas of active fighting,” Dujarric said.
“As the lean season looms, the UN’s plea is clear: agencies need the means to “provide support to families in Sudan” to avert “a hunger catastrophe.
“The call to action is not just for immediate relief but a reminder of the interconnectedness of regional stability and global responsibility, said the spokesperson.
(Xinhua/NAN)
