The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised alarms over the widespread starvation gripping war-torn Sudan, with its director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, highlighting that hunger “is almost everywhere” in the country. Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme after visiting Sudan, Dr. Tedros emphasized the severity of the situation, stating that the massive displacement in Sudan has now reached global proportions, with 12 million people already displaced. He pointed out the lack of global attention, attributing this to factors such as race.
Since the civil war erupted in April 2023 between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), thousands have lost their lives. The WHO chief described the situation on the ground as dire, marked by destruction, disease, and now famine. Dr. Tedros recounted his visit to a camp for internally displaced people and a hospital, where he witnessed many malnourished children in critical condition.
Nearly half of Sudan’s population—around 25 million people—are in need of humanitarian assistance. Dr. Tedros urged the international community to focus more on Sudan and similar conflicts in Africa, stressing that the level of attention given to African crises is alarmingly low. He drew parallels with the war in Ethiopia, recalling the horrors of growing up amidst conflict, and noted that other regions, such as Gaza, face similar neglect in the media.
Dr. Tedros also criticized the global response disparity compared to the Ukraine conflict, noting that while massive aid was funneled to Ukraine after Russia’s invasion in 2022, similar crises in places like Ethiopia, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Syria received only a fraction of that support.
In August, famine was declared by a UN-backed committee in a camp near the city of El-Fasher in Darfur, housing around 500,000 displaced people. Mediation efforts led by Saudi Arabia and the US have so far failed to resolve the conflict between Sudan’s military leader, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.