A year and a half of war has triggered a relentless countdown towards a total collapse in Sudan, as more than 20 million suffer from raging violence, deepening hunger, and forced displacement, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) Secretary General Jan Egeland said today at the end of a visit to the country.
Sudan: World ignores countdown to famine
"Twenty years ago, we had presidents and prime ministers engaged to stop atrocities in Darfur. There are today many times as many lives at stake – this is the world’s worst crisis -- but we are met with deafening silence. We must wake up the world before famine engulfs a generation of children,” said Egeland.
“I’ve just seen with my own eyes, in Darfur and in the east, the devastating result of indiscriminate attacks and senseless warfare. Last month alone, more than 2,500 people were killed and more than 250,000 people newly displaced. Communities we serve tell us of appalling violence—entire villages destroyed, civilians executed, women raped, and homes lost to shelling and airstrikes. This is the scorched earth of Sudan in 2024, and we are dangerously close to a freefall into starvation and suffering. Delayed action and insufficient diplomatic efforts are compounding the agony of the Sudanese people. They need immediate, decisive action from the international community.”
Sudan’s conflict has triggered the largest displacement crisis in the world. Over 11 million people are uprooted within the country, and an additional three million are seeking refuge in Chad, Egypt, South Sudan, and other neighbouring nations.
“One in every five people in Sudan is displaced. The few remaining safe areas are bursting at the seams, with hundreds of families taking shelter in overcrowded camps and barely surviving on limited resources,” said Egeland.
Across Sudan, extreme hunger is claiming lives every day. An estimated 24 million people—half the population—are in acute need of food, including 1.5 million on the edge of famine. Hunger and famine are tearing through urban centres and remote villages alike, with starvation now a reality in places like Khartoum, once the country's economic heart.
“The ongoing starvation here is a man-made tragedy,” stated Egeland. “In Darfur, I met women barely surviving, eating one meal of boiled leaves a day. The warring sides, who are obstructing access to these communities, bear direct responsibility for this catastrophe. This humanitarian crisis could be stopped at any moment.”
Despite urgent needs, all sides in the conflict continue to block aid access. “This is not an accident,” said Egeland. “The Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces cannot use hunger as a weapon. Each delay, every blocked truck, every authorisation delayed is a death sentence for families who can’t wait another day for food, water, and shelter. It is morally indefensible.”
The humanitarian response for Sudan is critically underfunded, leaving agencies including NRC with no choice but to make impossible decisions about whom to help. “The humanitarian response has less than half of what is needed,” said Egeland. “Soup kitchens in Khartoum, a last lifeline for thousands, have now closed down because promised funds have not come through. As we struggle to keep up, our current resources are merely delaying deaths instead of preventing them.”
Despite the scale of the crisis, the global response has not led to change on the ground. “A tweet of concern is not enough,” added Egeland. “The world’s inaction is nothing short of a green light for further suffering. Sudan needs a global emergency response on par with the scale of this crisis. The world must not look away as millions teeter on the edge of famine and conflict devastates entire communities.”
Notes to editors:
- B-roll and photos from Egeland’s visit to Sudan are available for free use here.
- During October 2024, attacks on civilians and fighting across the country killed more than 2,600 people and displaced 274,000 (ACLED; IDMC).
- Research from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimates that over 61,000 people died in Khartoum between April 2023 and June 2024, with violence claiming over 26,000 lives, far exceeding ACLED’s figure of 20,178 deaths nationwide during the same period. Alarmingly, over 90% of all deaths went unrecorded, suggesting a significantly underestimated toll in other regions. Preventable diseases and starvation were the leading causes of death nationwide, while deaths due to violence were disproportionately high in Kordofan (80%) and Darfur (69%), highlighting targeted violence in these regions (LSHTM).
- More than 11 million people have been uprooted within Sudan, and three million forced to flee into neighbouring countries including Chad, Egypt, and South Sudan (OCHA; UNHCR).
- An estimated 24 million people—half the population—are in acute need of food, including 1.5 million on the edge of famine (OCHA, WFP).
- NRC has supported over 1.14 million people across all states of Sudan since the beginning of the year, directly and through partners and local responders.
- NRC has over 43 national partners, and we support local responder groups across the country.
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
- Karl Schembri, regional media adviser: karl.schembri@nrc.no, +254 741 664562
- NRC global media hotline: media@nrc.no, +47 905 62 329
"Twenty years ago, we had presidents and prime ministers engaged to stop atrocities in Darfur. There are today many times as many lives at stake – this is the world’s worst crisis -- but we are met with deafening silence. We must wake up the world before famine engulfs a generation of children,” said Egeland.
“I’ve just seen with my own eyes, in Darfur and in the east, the devastating result of indiscriminate attacks and senseless warfare. Last month alone, more than 2,500 people were killed and more than 250,000 people newly displaced. Communities we serve tell us of appalling violence—entire villages destroyed, civilians executed, women raped, and homes lost to shelling and airstrikes. This is the scorched earth of Sudan in 2024, and we are dangerously close to a freefall into starvation and suffering. Delayed action and insufficient diplomatic efforts are compounding the agony of the Sudanese people. They need immediate, decisive action from the international community.”
Sudan’s conflict has triggered the largest displacement crisis in the world. Over 11 million people are uprooted within the country, and an additional three million are seeking refuge in Chad, Egypt, South Sudan, and other neighbouring nations.
“One in every five people in Sudan is displaced. The few remaining safe areas are bursting at the seams, with hundreds of families taking shelter in overcrowded camps and barely surviving on limited resources,” said Egeland.
Across Sudan, extreme hunger is claiming lives every day. An estimated 24 million people—half the population—are in acute need of food, including 1.5 million on the edge of famine. Hunger and famine are tearing through urban centres and remote villages alike, with starvation now a reality in places like Khartoum, once the country's economic heart.
“The ongoing starvation here is a man-made tragedy,” stated Egeland. “In Darfur, I met women barely surviving, eating one meal of boiled leaves a day. The warring sides, who are obstructing access to these communities, bear direct responsibility for this catastrophe. This humanitarian crisis could be stopped at any moment.”
Despite urgent needs, all sides in the conflict continue to block aid access. “This is not an accident,” said Egeland. “The Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces cannot use hunger as a weapon. Each delay, every blocked truck, every authorisation delayed is a death sentence for families who can’t wait another day for food, water, and shelter. It is morally indefensible.”
The humanitarian response for Sudan is critically underfunded, leaving agencies including NRC with no choice but to make impossible decisions about whom to help. “The humanitarian response has less than half of what is needed,” said Egeland. “Soup kitchens in Khartoum, a last lifeline for thousands, have now closed down because promised funds have not come through. As we struggle to keep up, our current resources are merely delaying deaths instead of preventing them.”
Despite the scale of the crisis, the global response has not led to change on the ground. “A tweet of concern is not enough,” added Egeland. “The world’s inaction is nothing short of a green light for further suffering. Sudan needs a global emergency response on par with the scale of this crisis. The world must not look away as millions teeter on the edge of famine and conflict devastates entire communities.”
Notes to editors:
- B-roll and photos from Egeland’s visit to Sudan are available for free use here.
- During October 2024, attacks on civilians and fighting across the country killed more than 2,600 people and displaced 274,000 (ACLED; IDMC).
- Research from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimates that over 61,000 people died in Khartoum between April 2023 and June 2024, with violence claiming over 26,000 lives, far exceeding ACLED’s figure of 20,178 deaths nationwide during the same period. Alarmingly, over 90% of all deaths went unrecorded, suggesting a significantly underestimated toll in other regions. Preventable diseases and starvation were the leading causes of death nationwide, while deaths due to violence were disproportionately high in Kordofan (80%) and Darfur (69%), highlighting targeted violence in these regions (LSHTM).
- More than 11 million people have been uprooted within Sudan, and three million forced to flee into neighbouring countries including Chad, Egypt, and South Sudan (OCHA; UNHCR).
- An estimated 24 million people—half the population—are in acute need of food, including 1.5 million on the edge of famine (OCHA, WFP).
- NRC has supported over 1.14 million people across all states of Sudan since the beginning of the year, directly and through partners and local responders.
- NRC has over 43 national partners, and we support local responder groups across the country.
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
- Karl Schembri, regional media adviser: karl.schembri@nrc.no, +254 741 664562
- NRC global media hotline: media@nrc.no, +47 905 62 329