The United Nations issued a dire warning on Tuesday about the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Sudan, calling it an “absolute catastrophe.”
The UN is urging the international community to take immediate action to prevent widespread famine and suffering.
Edem W. Osornu, a senior UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) official, told the Security Council that a staggering 26 million people in Sudan are facing acute hunger, a number equivalent to the entire population of New York City.
The ongoing conflict has displaced millions, with over 700,000 people fleeing the southeast region in the past six weeks alone.
The UN official expressed deep concern over the collapse of the healthcare system, warning of a looming public health crisis with the potential for cholera and other waterborne diseases to spread rapidly.
Education has also been severely disrupted, with an entire generation of children missing out on school for two consecutive years.
Aid workers face perilous conditions, with reports of harassment, attacks, and even killings.
Essential supplies, including food, medicine, and fuel, have been looted and obstructed, hindering the delivery of life-saving assistance.
The UN emphasized the need for increased funding to address the crisis and called for an immediate end to the conflict, adherence to international humanitarian law, unhindered access for aid workers, and greater support from the international community.
The World Food Program echoed the UN’s concerns, warning of famine and severe acute malnutrition among children.
The organization called for increased political and diplomatic attention to the crisis, which it said threatens to destabilize the entire region.
The UN and its partners are urging the Security Council to take decisive action to halt the conflict and alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese people.