Photo: Collected
United Nations agency chiefs on Friday (31 May) demanded unimpeded humanitarian access to deliver aid throughout war-torn Sudan, saying time was running out to prevent widespread famine.
In a joint statement, the heads of multiple UN agencies urged all parties in the conflict to immediately stop denying and obstructing humanitarian actions.
"Let us be clear: If we are prevented from providing aid rapidly and at scale, more people will die," the statement from the UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee said.
"Without an immediate and major step change, we will face a nightmare scenario: A famine will take hold in large parts of the country. More people will flee to neighbouring countries in search of sustenance and safety. More children will succumb to disease and malnutrition."
The joint statement was penned by the UN aid chief Martin Griffiths, along with the heads of the UN agencies for food, health, human rights, refugees, migration, agriculture and children, among others.
The committee is the highest-level humanitarian coordination forum in the United Nations system, bringing together the heads of 19 organisations, some of which are from outside the UN.
Fighting in Sudan broke out in April last year between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The conflict has killed thousands and sparked a humanitarian disaster.
The statement said 18 million people were acutely hungry, 3.6 million children were acutely malnourished and famine was closing in on millions of people.
Nearly two million people have escaped to neighbouring countries while millions more are displaced within Sudan.
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