The United States issued a warning on Thursday, indicating its intention to urge the U.N. Security Council to take action aimed at delivering aid to the starving population in Sudan.
This action may involve authorizing cross-border deliveries from Chad if the Sudanese armed forces fail to restore full access.
With the one-year anniversary of the conflict in Sudan approaching, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield expressed concern that both warring parties have obstructed aid operations and disregarded the Security Council’s call for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
“The situation in Sudan remains catastrophic and it is only getting worse,” she emphasized, noting the dire conditions leading to starvation.
The conflict in Sudan erupted on April 15, 2023, pitting the Sudanese army (SAF) against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
According to the U.N., nearly 25 million people, half of Sudan’s population, are in need of aid, with approximately 8 million displaced from their homes and nearly 5 million facing potential catastrophic hunger in the near future.
Thomas-Greenfield accused the SAF of obstructing aid delivery from Chad into Sudan’s Darfur region, controlled by the rival RSF, describing the situation as “literally a matter of life and death.”
She highlighted the alarming death rate among children at the Zamzam camp in North Darfur, where a child dies every two hours, and warned of the potential for over 200,000 more children to starve to death in the coming weeks and months, urging the SAF to fully reopen the border immediately.
In the absence of compliance from the Sudanese armed forces, Thomas-Greenfield stressed the need for swift action by the Security Council to ensure the delivery and distribution of life-saving aid, potentially through a cross-border mechanism.
The Security Council has previously authorized such operations, notably allowing the delivery of humanitarian aid from neighboring countries to millions of people in opposition-held areas of Syria for nine years.
Meanwhile, Washington is considering April 18 as a possible date for the resumption of peace talks on Sudan in Saudi Arabia, as stated by U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello earlier in the week.
Last year alone, between 10,000 and 15,000 people were killed in a single city in Sudan’s West Darfur region, underscoring the urgent need for humanitarian intervention amidst ongoing violence and instability.
