The hunger and malnutrition crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region needs to be addressed immediately before famine claims more lives.

Development Diaries reports that displacement camps have been forced to survive on one meal a day as two to three child deaths are being recorded per day in the region.

The war, which started in April 2023, has forced millions into camps for displaced persons across the country, leaving thousands without food, water, and other basic essentials.

This has given rise to malnutrition and hunger sweeping through displacement camps across the Darfur region, where resources are scarce.

Since famine was declared in the Zamzam camp in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, similar conditions have been reported in displacement camps throughout the region.

Families share their food rations to manage one meal a day, amid harrowing reports of daily deaths due to malnutrition affecting all age groups.

‘We can no longer feed our children alone, so my neighbours and I help each other. One brings flour, another brings oil and onions, and we all contribute vegetables. Our children eat once a day at noon and then wait until the next day’, Dar El Naeem Idris, who lives in Sortony camp, explained to Radio Dabanga

Also, a humanitarian worker at the camp, Mohamed Bashar, corroborated Idris’ statement, adding that malnutrition, especially among children and the elderly is on the rise.

‘Every day, I see 20 to 30 children at the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) centre due to malnutrition. We bury two to three children daily’, he said.

The situation across the Darfur region could worsen if hunger, limited access to health care, malnutrition, and other disease outbreaks persist.

Development Diaries calls on donors, development partners, and other humanitarian organisations to assist in providing funding to address the humanitarian needs in the region.

Source: Dabanga

Photo source: EUCPHA