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According to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), the Zam Zam Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp is experiencing Famine (IPC Phase 5) as intense conflict continues in Sudan.
In an alert issued on Thursday, FEWS NET reported that there is reasonable evidence that the famine threshold (IPC Phase 5) has been exceeded in Zamzam IDP camp in June.
The use of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) scale to describe acute food insecurity is a milestone in the fight against global hunger. This five-phase scale is widely accepted by the international community and provides a common standard for categorizing the severity of acute food insecurity. IPC Phase 5 means that even with the full use of coping strategies, households are still extremely short of food and/or other basic needs. Hunger, death, poverty and extremely severe acute malnutrition levels are evident. (For famine classification, areas need to have extremely severe acute malnutrition and mortality.)
According to FEWS NET, famine (IPC Phase 5) may also be occurring in two other IDP camps in the El Fasher region (Abu Shouk and Salam), but limited available evidence reduces the ability to confirm or deny the classification.
“We know that hunger is widespread among displaced people in El Fasher, where approximately half a million people are currently seeking shelter,” said Lark Walters, Decision Support Advisor at FEWS NET. “Extreme human suffering will continue without an end to the conflict and large-scale humanitarian food assistance.”
The war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which began in April 2023, is triggering the world’s largest displacement crisis. Nearly 330,000 people have been displaced between April and June 2024, since the RSF laid siege to El Fasher. The intensification of the conflict has led to the destruction of vital infrastructure, disrupted trade flows and humanitarian aid, caused severe food shortages and a sharp increase in food prices, and exacerbated already low water, sanitation and health services.
FEWS NET also assesses that other areas of El Fasher (around 800,000 inhabitants) are at risk of famine (IPC Phase 5) if the siege prevents people from migrating to safer areas in search of food and income for a long time.
“While FEWS NET is most concerned about El Fasher, the impact of the wider conflict is putting many other parts of Sudan at risk of famine, including the greater Darfur region and parts of South Kordofan and Khartoum,” Walters said. “Humanitarian and government actors must act quickly to ensure food assistance reaches those in need and prevent famine from spreading further.”
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