Agriculture Minister rejects UN famine declaration

Sudan's Agriculture Minister said there was no famine in the country and cast doubt on UN-backed data that 755 000 citizens are experiencing catastrophic hunger, rejecting the idea of aid agencies overriding cross-border delivery restrictions. An AoL report says Sudan has become the world's worst hunger crisis since the outbreak of a war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who have taken over wide swathes of the country. ‘755 000 citizens are not a significant percentage compared to the total population ... they cannot call that famine,’ said Abubakr al-Bushra, in a news conference in Port Sudan, the country's de facto capital. Sudan has a population of 50m. The army has blocked aid and commerce from entering RSF-controlled areas, while supplies that reach those areas are expensive and frequently stolen, often by RSF soldiers.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) – an initiative of UN agencies, regional bodies and aid groups – said in late June that while half the population were experiencing acute hunger, there were 14 spots across the country at risk of famine. The AoL report notes that famine can be declared if at least 20% of the population in an area experience catastrophic hunger, and thresholds on child malnutrition and death from starvation are met. Al-Bushra cast doubt on experts' ability to measure data in RSF-controlled areas, claiming the malnutrition indicators had not yet been determined. Following the IPC data, an independent committee could declare a famine, potentially triggering Security Council orders over-riding army restrictions on which crossings could be used for aid deliveries. Al-Bushra said: ‘We reject the opening of our borders by force because that could open the borders with opposing states, borders that the militia controls,’ he said, while another official cast such a move as part of a conspiracy against the country.