US and major European powers call for aid amid Sudan famine risk

WASHINGTON - Dozens of countries including the US and major European powers said Sudan was experiencing an alarming deterioration in its food security and urged parties to the conflict in the country "to lift all impediments on humanitarian assistance."

The countries jointly said that in the face of a potential famine, they were calling on the international community to scale up funding and urging financial institutions to adapt their ongoing programs to the food security situation.

"Sudan is experiencing an alarming deterioration in its food security. The risk of famine in the coming months, as warned by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, needs urgent action," the joint statement released by the US State Department said.

"The parties to the conflict bear primary responsibility for alleviating the suffering of the Sudanese people."

Sudan's army has been fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April 2023, when the two fell out over issues including how to integrate their forces in a planned transition to civilian rule.

In June, the United Nations-backed global hunger monitor, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, said 5.1 million people in Sudan faced severe hunger. Farmers have struggled to harvest their crops since the civil war flared in 2023 and have also recently been battling a drought.

The joint statement urged parties in the conflict to authorize humanitarian operations through all crossline and cross-border routes, including air access into Darfur.

It also called on them to "sustain presence and protection of humanitarian personnel" throughout Sudan and refrain from strikes on civilian infrastructure.

The statement was signed by the US, Australia, the UK, France, Germany and the European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, among others.

The State Department said last month that neither the Sudanese Armed Forces, the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary nor either of their respective leaders "represent legitimate, constitutional governance for Sudan."

The war has displaced more than 14 million people and unleashed waves of ethnically driven killings.

A UN probe said in July RSF forces carried out mass killings, rapes and forced starvation in a city they besieged and captured last year, as part of an intentional policy amounting to genocide.

Washington has also accused the RSF of committing genocide and the army of carrying out war crimes. Both have previously denied abuses.

- Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Saad Sayeed/Reuters