PARIS: The US State Department issued a joint statement cosigned by 30 other nations Monday, warning that urgent action was needed to address the "alarming deterioration" in Sudan's food security due to the ongoing conflict.
Aid workers estimate the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which erupted in April 2023, has killed more than 200,000 people, displaced more than 13 million and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.
"The risk of famine in the coming months, as warned by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, needs urgent action," the statement read. "There is no time to lose to save lives and prevent famine."
The statement said over 40 percent of the country's population, an estimated 19.5 million, are experiencing acute food insecurity, with 5 million experiencing emergency levels.
"Without immediate action to reverse the current trajectory, the number of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition could exceed the projected 825,000," the statement continued, adding that the number of food insecure areas in the country are expected to double.
The 31 signatories called on the warring parties "to lift all impediments on humanitarian assistance, allow and facilitate full, safe, rapid, and unimpeded humanitarian access, and protect humanitarian personnel."
The US-issued statement was cosigned by the governments of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Hungary, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.