U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield has voiced grave concern over the recent declaration of famine in Sudan’s Zamzam Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp.
She has urged warring factions to facilitate the unrestricted flow of humanitarian aid.
According to aid agencies, ongoing conflict in Sudan has led to famine in the Zamzam camp, home to hundreds of thousands of displaced individuals in North Darfur.
The Famine Review Committee (FRC) of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) reported severe famine conditions in this region.
The Zamzam IDP camp, located south of El Fasher, is one of the largest of its kind, with a population of at least 500,000. The situation has deteriorated further due to over 15 months of violence, severely limiting humanitarian access.
“This declaration confirms the dire situation we’ve known all along: people are dying from starvation in Sudan,” Thomas-Greenfield said, calling on both the General al-Burhan’s army (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to remove obstacles to aid delivery.
She also urged both factions to attend the upcoming ceasefire talks in Switzerland on August 14.
The IPC designates famine conditions (Phase 5) when one in five households faces extreme food shortages, severe malnutrition, and death.
The escalation in violence has displaced around 320,000 people in El Fasher, with 150,000 to 200,000 seeking refuge in Zamzam since mid-May, increasing its population to over half a million.
Humanitarian access has been severely restricted by conflict parties, hampering aid delivery and exacerbating the food crisis. The World Food Programme (WFP) has called for safe passage for aid workers to prevent further starvation.
WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain stressed the urgent need for access to save lives and prevent famine from spreading.
Since the conflict began in April 2023, the WFP has been sounding alarms about the worsening hunger crisis, calling for unhindered humanitarian access.
