WHO: Lean Season Could Bring 'Catastrophic' Hunger in Sudan

Sudanese displaced by the war wait for water in Wad Madani © - / AFP
Sudanese displaced by the war wait for water in Wad Madani © - / AFP
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WHO: Lean Season Could Bring 'Catastrophic' Hunger in Sudan

Sudanese displaced by the war wait for water in Wad Madani © - / AFP
Sudanese displaced by the war wait for water in Wad Madani © - / AFP

Conflict-torn Sudan's summer months lean season could trigger catastrophic levels of hunger, with millions already struggling for food, the World Health Organization warned Tuesday.

Peter Graaff, acting WHO representative to Sudan, warned that a "perfect storm" was brewing with people, weakened by hunger, falling pray to infectious diseases -- in a health system which has virtually collapsed amid the fighting.

The lean season, roughly from April to July, sees food prices run high as stocks dwindle ahead of the next harvest.

War that broke out in April last year between Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, his former deputy and commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, has killed thousands and sparked a humanitarian disaster.

Around 25 million people -- more than half the population -- need aid, including nearly 18 million who face acute food insecurity, according to UN numbers.

About five million people are already in emergency levels of hunger, Graaff told a briefing in Geneva.

"There is concern that the upcoming lean season will lead to catastrophic levels of hunger in the worst-affected areas," he said, via video-link from Cairo.

"Malnourished children are at increased risk of dying from illnesses like diarrhoea, pneumonia and measles, especially in a setting where they lack access to life-saving health services.

"The situation in Sudan is therefore a perfect storm," he said.

"The health system is hardly functional... and infectious diseases are spreading: over 10,000 cases of cholera have been reported, 5,000 cases of measles, about 8,000 cases of dengue, and over 1.2 million clinical cases of malaria."

The fighting has triggered a rapid displacement crisis, with 1.8 million people having fled across the borders, and 6.1 million displaced within the country.

"I have witnessed first-hand the displacement within Sudan and in neighbouring Chad. And what I have seen is alarming and heartbreaking," Graaff said, recounting people forced to walk for days, only to find shelter in overcrowded areas with little food, water and sanitation.

"The people of Sudan are facing a life-or-death situation due to the continued violence, insecurity, and limited access to essential health services and supplies," Graaff said.

"And there seems to be little hope of a political solution in sight."

He called for safe and unhindered access in order to provide life-saving health services and supplies.



Members of UK Jewish Group Say Can't 'Turn Blind Eye' to Gaza War

Children gather near a destroyed makeshift shelter following an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia - AFP
Children gather near a destroyed makeshift shelter following an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia - AFP
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Members of UK Jewish Group Say Can't 'Turn Blind Eye' to Gaza War

Children gather near a destroyed makeshift shelter following an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia - AFP
Children gather near a destroyed makeshift shelter following an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia - AFP

Members of the largest organization representing British Jews have said they can no longer "turn a blind eye" to the war in Gaza, adding "Israel's soul is being ripped out".

In a major break with the Board of Deputies of British Jews' policy of supporting the Israeli leadership, 36 of its members criticized the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu's government in Gaza in an open letter published in the Financial Times.

"The inclination to avert our eyes is strong, as what is happening is unbearable, but our Jewish values compel us to stand up and to speak out," said the letter, signed by around one in eight members of the Board of Deputies, AFP reported.

"We cannot turn a blind eye or remain silent" about the loss of life since a two-month truce collapsed on March 18, as negotiations over the return of Israeli hostages broke down, the letter added.

Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the war, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

"Israel's soul is being ripped out and we, members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, fear for the future of the Israel we love and have such close ties to," added the letter.

The signatories accused the "most extremist of Israeli governments" of "openly encouraging violence against Palestinians in the West Bank."

"We stand against the war. We acknowledge and mourn the loss of Palestinian life," they added.

A spokesperson for the Board of Deputies told the Guardian that other members would "no doubt put more emphasis on the fundamental responsibility of Hamas for this ghastly situation."

At least 1,691 Palestinians have been killed since the resumption of the Israeli offensive, bringing the death toll in Gaza since the start of the war to 51,065, according to Gaza's Hamas-controlled health ministry.