Khartoum, Sudan – August 6, 2025 – United Nations agencies today issued grave warnings of an escalating humanitarian crisis in Sudan, with the city of El Fasher at the epicenter of a looming catastrophe driven by intense conflict and severe food shortages. The World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF are calling for immediate and sustained access to prevent mass starvation in a country ravaged by a civil war that began in April 2023.
The conflict in Sudan, primarily a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. The situation in El Fasher, the last foothold for the army in Darfur, has become particularly dire. According to the WFP, the RSF has cut off vital trade and supply routes, leaving the city’s population in a desperate daily struggle for survival. Reports indicate that people are resorting to eating animal fodder, food waste, and even leaves to survive.
The human cost is staggering, with UN statistics from early July showing that 38% of children under five in and around El Fasher suffer from acute malnutrition. UNICEF has stated that many children are “reduced to skin and bones,” and its Sudan representative, Sheldon Yett, warned of “irreversible damage to an entire generation of children.”
Despite the Sudanese government granting clearance, WFP trucks loaded with essential food aid are stalled, awaiting a pause in fighting. The UN has been pushing for a humanitarian truce, but while the armed forces’ leadership has agreed, the RSF has reportedly rejected the initiative, believing it would be used to supply opposing forces. This lack of cooperation has left over one million people, who have fled El Fasher since the conflict began, without the necessary aid.
The humanitarian situation is further compounded by a drastic decrease in international aid. “It is a looming catastrophe… not because we lack the knowledge or the tools to save them, but because we are collectively failing to act,” Yett stated, highlighting the urgent need for global attention and resources to meet the crisis at the scale it demands.
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