Famine officially declared in Sudan

The civil war in Sudan and restrictions on aid have caused famine in North Darfur, food security experts said on Thursday.

The finding, linked to an internationally recognized standard known as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, is only the third time a famine determination has been made since the system was set up 20 years ago.

It shows how starvation and disease are taking a deadly toll in Sudan, where more than 15 months of war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have created the world’s biggest internal displacement crisis and left 25 million people — half the population — in urgent need of humanitarian aid.

An official review committee found there was acute malnutrition and deaths meeting famine criteria in the Zamzam camp, which houses 500,000 displaced people. Paramilitaries are besieging the area and no aid has reached the camp for months.

The Islamic Relief charity said rising numbers of children needed treatment in clinics across Sudan. “It is not too late for them, but time is running out,” it said. Some victims have been forced to eat leaves and soil, and satellite imagery showed cemeteries expanding fast as starvation and disease spread.