Emergency rooms in the locality of “Embada” west of the Sudanese capital Khartoum announced on Wednesday the death of three people, including a child, due to hunger in the tent neighborhood, noting the cessation of all collective kitchens in the area.
She warned of the catastrophic conditions experienced by the citizens of the locality, which is the largest and most densely populated locality of the capital, with an estimated population of more than one million people in a specific area of twenty-one square kilometers.
30 emergency rooms in the various sectors of Umbada (Baqa’a, Al-Amir and Al-Salam) launched an urgent appeal to local and international community organizations to help local residents who are facing starvation after the last 25 communal kitchens that were working to provide food supplies in the local neighborhoods were halted due to lack of funding.
She pointed out that volunteers in the various neighborhoods of the locality have made unremitting efforts since the outbreak of the war, which has entered its second year, to provide as many services as possible to the people in light of the complete absence of state institutions.
Community initiatives launched by emergency rooms and resistance committees were able to cover part of the deficit, but the support in light of the worsening repercussions of the crisis was not enough to cover 10% of the actual need for locality.
She pointed to the large numbers of people scattered throughout the locality, which is one of the largest localities in Sudan and has not been spared from marginalization over the past decades, to increase the catastrophic situation after the outbreak of the April 15 war, which put its residents in direct confrontation with death of starvation and shelling in light of the ongoing battles between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces.
She pointed out that the interruption of communication and internet networks and the difficulty of movement due to high security risks, led to a dwindling support efforts, leading to the very dangerous conditions faced by its residents.
“Civilians in Umbada locality are living the worst humanitarian crisis in existence,” the emergency rooms said in a joint statement, adding: “Those who have been spared stray bullets, cannons and indiscriminate air strikes have not and will not be spared the repercussions of hunger, lack of medicine and acute lack of clean drinking water.
In a message to the parties to the conflict and actors inside and outside the country, the emergency rooms pointed out that the situation in Umbada locality requires urgent intervention to save what can be saved.
Despite the protracted disaster, she noted that rescuing the local population is still possible by doing more to get humanitarian access.
She called on the people to cohesion and continue solidarity and joint steadfastness until the crisis is resolved.
It is noteworthy that collective kitchens proliferated in the aftermath of the outbreak of the April 15, 2023 war, where civilians trapped in conflict zones shared what was left of food inside their homes.
The problem developed later after the worsening of the food and water shortage crisis, as emergency rooms and resistance committees were active in mobilizing civil efforts and collecting financial and in-kind support to cover the needs of collective kitchens.
This continued for several months, as kitchens stopped at times and returned at other times, until kitchens in a number of localities in the capital, Khartoum, and other states stopped working completely due to the severe lack of support that prevented them from continuing.
The starvation is not the first of its kind since the war began, with the World Food Programme (WFP) confirming in February that it had received reports of Sudanese dying of starvation.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network for 2024 predicted that Sudan would have the third highest proportion of the population in need in the world, among the countries it monitors.
She warned that the situation of families in Sudan is catastrophically deteriorating as hostilities expand, displacement increases and infrastructure is destroyed in the country.
Since mid-April 2023, Sudanese have been facing the repercussions of the escalating war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces amid warnings of its transformation into an all-out civil war.
As military operations expand into cities and neighbourhoods, civilians trapped in combat zones face severe shortages of food and medicine, while calls for safe corridors for humanitarian access continue.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network indicated that the situation of families in the city of Omdurman, west of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, and El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur State, is moving towards the fifth phase of the integrated phase classification, with the expansion of hostilities, increased displacement, destruction of infrastructure, widespread looting and poor access to aid.
WFP said it was only able to provide regular food assistance to one in 10 people facing emergency levels of hunger.
He warned that opening new fronts of fighting would further disrupt trade and agricultural activities in Sudan, posing a major threat to the country’s food supply.
According to EWSN estimates, total food availability in Sudan is expected to fall well below average due to severe shortages of local cereal crops and widespread food stocks decline. Wheat imports are below average amid insecurity-related challenges hampering the delivery of food assistance.
Sudan typically relies on imports to meet about 80% of its annual wheat consumption needs.
Lower domestic production is likely to exacerbate already large import deficits. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the proportion of official wheat imports in 2023 fell by half.
According to UN reports, two-thirds of Sudanese are in need of urgent assistance due to severe food shortages.
Al-Quds Al-Arabi/Al-Yurae
