Members of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, including the United States, responded skeptically to Russia’s shocking accusation. Earlier this month, Western nations were using allegations of hunger and malnutrition to threaten Sudan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s first deputy permanent representative to the UN, questioned the Famine Review Committee’s (FRC) legitimacy, and the veracity of its 2024 report on Sudan during a speech to the UN Security Council.
At once a terrible famine is not and cannot occur in Sudan. The Sudanese leadership is being pressured by politicizing and exploiting the problem of hunger in the country. Someone seems desperate for famine to eventually start in Sudan, according to Polyanskiy. He claimed that the West took advantage of hunger as a political issue.
Role of the UK and UN in the betterment of Sudan
Russia’s assertions are false and worsen the situation. A draft resolution on Sudan that the UK offered to the UN Security Council was rejected by Russia in November 2024. “A comprehensive, nationwide ceasefire; increased protection of civilians; and unhindered flow of humanitarian aid into and across Sudan” were among the demands made in the resolution. Famine was occurring in at least five regions of Sudan. Additionally, it predicted that between December 2024 and May 2025, hunger levels will increase in five more places.
These estimates are predicated on the legitimate and plausible supposition that regions surrounded by the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF) will continue to experience food shortages. The forecasts, however, do not account for shifts in the food supply or adjustments brought about by fighting-related territory gains. Convoys of supplies have been trucked into the impacted districts as a result of recent successes by the Sudan Armed Forces in Sennar. The Medani as well as local accords in southern Khartoum.
Twenty-two trucks were supplied to Khartoum’s embattled southern suburbs last month. About 750 tons of desperately needed food and medical supplies were delivered by the convoy. It was supported by Médecins Sans Frontières, the World Food Programme, and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). “The dynamics of the fight have effectively blocked off access to the area. It required three months of frequent daily discussions with all levels of government officials as well as other parties in charge of access.
Sheldon Yett, UNICEF’s representative in Sudan, noted that the trucks were delayed multiple times. The drivers were reasonably hesitant considering the risks involved.
Food Security Phase Classification in Sudan
The convoy’s transit through each of the warring parties’ various spheres of influence was made easier by these infrequent moments of agreement. Since the beginning of the fight, the RSF has maintained control over southern Khartoum. However, Sudanese authorities halted participation in the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system before the assistance convoy arrived a year early. Sudan is withdrawing from the IPC system because the IPC is issuing unreliable reports that undermine Sudan’s sovereignty and dignity.
Food shortages have impacted over 400,000 people in Zamzam, the largest internally displaced person (IDP) camp in Sudan, located in North Darfur. Other IDP camps, including Abu Shouk and Al-Salam in North Darfur and the Western Nuba Mountains, have also experienced famine at emergency levels. Famine-related child mortality rates in these camps are reported to be close to 12 per day. RSF-controlled regions, whether in the capital, the formerly occupied Al-Jazira state, or Darfur, have the greatest rates of hunger and malnutrition-related deaths.
Many displaced farming families were unable to farm despite having a “good” rainy season. In the most fertile agricultural states, like Al-Jazira, RSF offensive raids deliberately targeted croplands for devastation and agricultural equipment robbery. A significant portion of the stolen tractors, equipment, and other large farm vehicles have been resold in marketplaces throughout the Sahel.
Criticism of Sudan’s armed forces
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) are criticized for their bureaucratic roadblocks that prevent aid from being delivered. Internal travel paperwork, customs inspections, and visa requirements for foreign humanitarian workers have occasionally hampered aid delivery. In August 2024, an SAF military unit reopened the Adré bridge between Sudan and Chad to assist in the flow of humanitarian aid.
The RSF is in charge of the area around the border crossing. However, to conduct cross-border humanitarian operations, the RSF must be recognized by the UN as the sovereign authority. In North Kordofan state, several assistance vehicles have been unable to deliver their goods since October. The vehicles are in an SAF-controlled region, but the RSF is all around them. Until safe passage is ensured by some kind of taxation, the convoy cannot depart.
Delivering supplies to impacted areas is still a difficult and risky process. Exaggerations and inaccurate forecasts give proponents of intervention a chance to seize sovereignty from the Sudanese government. However, failing to address the needs of the Sudanese people promptly may regrettably result in a higher death toll and more suffering during the arduous 18-month conflict.