UNITED NATIONS, United States, March  20, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - After nearly a 
year of war, Sudan is suffering one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent 
history, the United Nations warned Wednesday, slamming the international 
community for lack of action.

       Fighting between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, 
Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has since April killed tens of thousands and led to acute 
food shortages and a looming famine.

       "By all measures -- the sheer scale of humanitarian needs, the numbers of 
people displaced and facing hunger -- Sudan is one of the worst humanitarian 
disasters in recent memory," Edem Wosornu, director of operations at the UN 
Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), said. 

       "A humanitarian travesty is playing out in Sudan under a veil of 
international inattention and inaction," Wosornu told the Security Council 
Wednesday on behalf of UNOCHA head Martin Griffiths.

       "Simply put, we are failing the people of Sudan," she added, describing the 
population's "desperation." 

       According to the UN, the conflict has seen more than 8 million people 
displaced. 

       The Security Council earlier this month called for an immediate ceasefire 
during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and urged better access to 
humanitarian aid. 

       But "I regret to report that there has not been major progress on the 
ground," Wosornu told the Council Wednesday. 

       In total, more than 18 million Sudanese are facing acute food insecurity -- 
a record during harvest season, and 10 million more than at this time last year 
-- while 730,000 Sudanese children are thought to suffer from severe 
malnutrition.  

       Griffiths warned the Security Council last week in a letter seen by AFP 
that "almost five million people could slip into catastrophic food insecurity 
in some parts of the country in the coming months."

       UN World Food Programme's deputy executive director Carl Skau said 
Wednesday, "If we are going to prevent Sudan from becoming the world's largest 
hunger crisis, coordinated efforts and joined up diplomacy is urgent and 
critical."

       He cautioned there is a "high risk" the country could see famine levels of 
hunger when the agricultural lean season begins in May. 

       Malnutrition is "already claiming children's lives," Wosornu said, adding 
that humanitarian experts estimate some 222,000 children could die of the 
condition in the coming weeks and months. 

       Additionally, she said, children weakened from hunger are at a higher risk 
of dying from other preventable causes, as more than 70 percent of the 
country's health infrastructure has collapsed.