Famine in Sudan may lessen but hunger, malnutrition persist

Famine in Sudan may lessen but hunger, malnutrition persist

Decades of civil war, ethnic tensions and government infighting continue to contribute to extreme famine conditions in the world’s newest country.

When the United Nations (UN) officially declared famine in South Sudan in February 2017, more than 1 million people were facing extreme scarcity of food. The declaration in South Sudan came just six years after the country officially broke away from Sudan, ending Africa’s longest-running civil war.

However, continued government infighting in South Sudan caused millions to flee, often to neighboring regions in Sudan.

As a result, an estimated 3 million people require humanitarian assistance in the Darfur region of Sudan, with an additional 230,000 people in need in conflict-affected regions of South Kordofan and Blue Nile, according to
USAID, the U.S. government agency that works to end extreme global poverty.

Two million Sudanese children under the age of 5 are acutely malnourished, including 550,000 who suffer from severe acute malnutrition. An estimated quarter of a million children suffer from severe acute malnutrition in South Sudan.

School lunches

Approximately 350 South Sudanese children will receive lunch during the 10.5 months of their 2017 school year thanks to Baptist Global Relief (BGR), a global Southern Baptist relief and development organization.

Living Water Community Transformation, a BGR partner organization, operates two Christian primary schools in Akot, providing education to a total of 700 students. Funding from other sources will supply lunches for the remaining students.

The daily lunch program optimizes nutrition and growth for these children during their critical years of educational, physical and personal development, according to gobgr.org.

“Well-nourished, healthy children have more consistent school attendance, stay in school longer and learn better,” a BGR partner says.

Success stories

BGR also works in the region to equip and empower local farmers to grow more food through its agri-business project and to dig wells to provide clean drinking water.

The onset of harvests, increased access to livestock products and a decline in staple food prices expected in October may provide some relief from the severe famine in the region. Until then, up to four million people could require emergency food assistance through the lean season ending in September.

USAID and its UN partners remain the world’s largest providers of humanitarian aid to Sudan, assisting more than 2.5 million food-insecure Sudanese, as well as South Sudanese refugees residing in Sudan, according to usaid.gov. In a visit to North Darfur State, Sudan, on Aug. 28, USAID administrator Mark Green said the situation in Sudan has reached a “critical point.”

‘America will not walk away’

“There is still a need for life-saving humanitarian assistance, and we hope to see a successful resolution to the conflicts in Darfur and the Two Areas (South Kordofan and Blue Nile),” Green said. “I want to underscore — America will not walk away from our commitment to humanitarian assistance, and we will always stand with people everywhere when a disaster or humanitarian crisis strikes, for that is who we are as Americans.” (TAB)

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To learn more about BGR efforts around the world or to donate online, visit gobgr.org.