Fighting between the Sudanese army and the rival military Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who have been battling for more than year, recently intensified in the North Darfur city. 

Civilians are under attack from all sides, and the news of reported casualties and human rights abuses are appalling, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan Clementine Nkweta-Salami said in a statement. 

‘Deeply worrying reports’ 

“Families, including children and elderly people, are being prevented from leaving the city as they search for safety,” she said.

“We are receiving deeply worrying reports that medical facilities, displacement camps and critical civilian infrastructure have been targeted by parties to the conflict.” 

Ms. Nkweta-Salami added that many parts of El Fasher have been left without electricity or water and a growing proportion of the population has limited access to food, healthcare and other basic necessities and essential services. 

Appeal to the parties 

“After more than a year of brutal conflict, families have exhausted their scarce resources and their resilience is being eroded with each day of violence,” she said. 

The top UN aid official in the country stressed that all parties must avoid using explosive weapons in populated areas and take all feasible precautions to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure. 

“Wars have rules that must be respected by all, no matter what,” she said.  

Conflict displaces millions 

Meanwhile, the war has displaced more than seven million people inside Sudan, more than half of them children, according to the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, citing data from the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM).

This is in addition to the estimated two million who have fled to neighbouring countries since the conflict erupted in April 2023. 

The UN and partners continue to step up efforts to respond to rising hunger and food insecurity in Sudan. Some 18 million people across the country are going hungry, and five million are on the brink of famine. 

Food on the move 

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) reported that 1,200 metric tonnes of food supplies for some 116,000 people are being transported across the Darfur region and nearing final destinations in Central Darfur and 12 locations across South Darfur, including displacement camps in Nyala.  

The supplies are from a WFP convoy that crossed into Sudan from Chad last week. 

Food distributions are also ongoing for 135,000 people in South Kordofan state as WFP reiterated that aid must safely reach vulnerable communities. 

‘Catastrophic consequences’ for children and mothers

Separately, WFP alongside the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), issued a stark warning of the significant deterioration in the nutrition status of children and mothers due to the war.

“Sudan is facing an ever-increasing risk of conflict-induced famine that will have catastrophic consequences, including the loss of life, especially among young children,” they said on Thursday.

Recent analysis conducted by the agencies highlights how the conflict is worsening the drivers of child malnutrition, which include lack of access to nutritious food, safe drinking water and sanitation as well as increased risk of disease.

The situation is further compounded by the massive displacement of people fleeing to safety. Furthermore, humanitarian access has been severely impacted by the fighting.

Childhood malnutrition crisis

The UN agencies said child malnutrition is at emergency levels. In Central Darfur, acute malnutrition is estimated to be at 15.6 per cent among under-fives and close to 30 per cent at the ZamZam camp in North Darfur, home to thousands of internally displaced people.

Acute malnutrition is life-threatening, they explained, as malnourished children are up to 11 times more likely to die than their well-nourished counterparts. 

Levels of malnutrition are particularly worrying among pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, they added, pointing to a screening carried out last month by medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, in the ZamZam camp.

Over 33 per cent of pregnant and breastfeeding women there are malnourished, indicating that they are likely sacrificing their own needs to feed their children. 

Next generation at risk

“This situation poses an incredible risk not only for the health of mothers, but also for the next generation of Sudan’s children,” they said. “As much as 30 per cent of child malnutrition begins in utero, so children born to malnourished mothers are likely to be already malnourished themselves.”

The agencies fear that the situation for children and mothers will only worsen over the coming months, noting that the rainy season, which starts in June, will cut off communities and raise disease rates.

“Sudan is also entering the lean season, a time between harvests when food stocks traditionally run low,” they added.  “This is particularly pertinent this year as reports are already indicating that agricultural production in 2023 was below normal due to insecurity and displacement.”

The agencies called for immediate, unimpeded and consistent access to communities who are suffering the worst effects of the conflict, through all possible crossline and cross-border routes.

They also appealed for a de-escalation of the situation in El Fasher, a nationwide ceasefire and  a scale-up in donor support, warning that “the window to avert the worst is rapidly closing”. 

Martin Griffiths, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, highlighted the worsening humanitarian crisis, noting that 16.7 million people now require humanitarian assistance, the highest number since the conflict began 13 years ago.  

He stressed that the situation is deteriorating year by year, with a particular emphasis on the ongoing protection crisis as children continue to be killed and women and girls face increasing levels of sexual and gender-based violence.

In addition, an unstable economic situation is compounding suffering and perpetuating instability. According to the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the cost of living has more than doubled over the past year, and there are no signs of improvement in the near future.

“More than seven million people remain displaced within Syria, with millions more living as refugees in neighbouring countries,” Mr. Griffiths said.

He underscored the need for sustained humanitarian access through both cross-border and crossline operations.

Welcoming the recent extension granted by the Syrian Government for use of the Bab al-Salam border crossing, the UN relief chief highlighted the need for more long-term commitments based on needs rather than set time periods

Security concerns

Geir O. Pedersen, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, described the political impasse as deeply entrenched, with no clear political path to implement UN Security Council resolution 2254, which outlined a roadmap for Syria’s political transition.  

He warned of the risks of prolonged division and despair, which threaten not only Syrians but the broader international community.

“A dizzying array of local and international actors and listed terrorist groups remain engaged in conflict, inside and over Syrian territory, across multiple theatres,” Mr. Pedersen said.

He detailed ongoing clashes across the north of the country and security tensions within areas of control, complicated by the fallout of the war in Gaza, including Israeli airstrikes inside Syria and rocket and drone attacks from Syrian territory towards the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan and Israel.

“If these dynamics simply continue, we will inevitably see even more civilian suffering. And we could also see major escalations and further instability radiating across the region,” he warned, also reiterating the need for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“Regional de-escalation efforts starting with a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza is absolutely essential,” he stressed.

Piecemeal approach will not work

Mr. Pedersen further emphasised the need for a comprehensive political solution involving the Syrian Government, opposition, civil society and key international actors such as Iran, Russia, Türkiye, the United States, Arab and European nations and the Security Council.

“No actor on its own can solve the crisis, and none of the existing diplomatic groupings can either. Constructive international diplomacy with the contribution of all is the only way forwards,” he stressed.

At the same time, Constitutional Committee meetings must be resumed and concrete confidence-building measures undertaken to stabilise the situation.

“Many understand that the situation in Syria is dangerous, that the current piecemeal approach will not suffice to stem the tide and that a strategy of containment and alleviation will not stabilise the dangerous and unpredictable situation in Syria, just as it hasn’t elsewhere in the region,” he said.

The World Food Programme (WFP) distributed more than 74,000 hot meals to over 15,000 displaced people in the besieged capital, Port-au-Prince, Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, told journalists at UN Headquarters on Thursday, providing an update on the gang-ravaged Caribbean nation.

In addition, about 2,400 children received mental health and psychosocial support from child protection experts, he said.

At the same time, humanitarian agencies provided information sessions to more than 4,000 people sheltering in displacement sites on such critical issues as gender-based violence, protection and sexual abuse.

Nearly 1.6 million people are facing acute food insecurity levels in Haiti, according to UN agencies.

The UN Spokesperson also reported that civilians in displacement sites in Port-au-Prince had received about 13 million litres of water from UN agencies, partners and Haiti’s civil protection department since the beginning of March.

In the Artibonite region, Mr. Dujarric said WFP has provided cash assistance to over 13,000 people as part of its emergency activities and another 6,000 people in this region received food.

Following the recent tornado in the Bassin Bleu commune, which damaged more than 300 houses, WFP will also provide food for nearly 3,800 residents, he said.

Violence and blocked borders impede aid access in Gaza

In Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Thursday that increased violence and blocked borders continued to restrict aid access in the enclave where hundreds of thousands of people are in need.

Humanitarians are experiencing “movement restrictions” to border areas which are causing delays in planned missions to collect resources from the Kerem Shalom crossing, the UN Spokesperson said.

“We need Israeli authorities to swiftly facilitate access to the crossing so that aid workers can safely reach the crossing to pick up supplies,” he said. “We also need safe and unimpeded passage to distribute that assistance to scale to people in need, wherever they may need it in Gaza.”

‘Catastrophic levels of hunger’

The UN and its humanitarian partners are doing all they can to aid civilians in Gaza, he said, adding that WFP is calling for blocked borders in Gaza to be opened since this impacts their ability to reach people in need.

“Constrained access to southern parts of Gaza risks causing the same catastrophic levels of hunger that has been seen in the north, and in central and southern Gaza, hunger levels are deteriorating fast,” Mr. Dujarric said.

He said WFP reported that some commercial supplies have reached the enclave, but the high cost means many civilians cannot afford the goods.

‘Israel must stop its campaign against UNRWA’

The UN relief agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, which serves more than 5.9 million Palestinians in the region, said conditions are dire, and in the last two days alone, more than 32,000 people have fled the escalating fighting in Rafah.

In a guest essay published on Thursday in The New York Times, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini referred to unproven allegations Israel had made earlier this year against the UN agency and efforts to restrict its work in war-torn Gaza.

“As I write this, our agency has verified that at least 192 UNRWA employees have been killed in Gaza,” he said in the essay. “More than 170 UNRWA premises have been damaged or destroyed. UNRWA-run schools have been demolished; some 450 displaced people have been killed while sheltered inside UNRWA schools and other structures.”

He also said that since the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October, Israeli security forces have “rounded up UNRWA personnel in Gaza, who have alleged torture and mistreatment while in detention” in the Strip and in Israel.

“Israeli officials are not only threatening the work of our staff and mission, they are also delegitimising UNRWA,” he wrote. “Israel must stop its campaign against UNRWA.”

First ever International Day of Potato

It’s the world’s first ever International Day of Potato, and the theme is Harvesting diversity, feeding hope, with a focus on the ancient vegetable’s contribution to the lives of producers and consumers as well as the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The General Assembly designated 30 May to pay tribute to the potato, an 8,000-year-old crop originating in the Andes mountains in South America that is now a staple food consumed by about two thirds of the world’s population.

Climate-friendly and resistant to drought, cold and barren land with wide adaptability, the potato contributes to the food security, nutrition, livelihoods and employment of people in rural and urban areas the world over.

Key crop around the world

Indeed, 159 countries cultivate potatoes, and there are 5,000 varieties worldwide. Nearly 50 per cent of current crops produced are used as the household staple food or vegetable.

Potatoes are a key crop across diverse farming systems globally, ranging from smallholders producing diverse heirloom varieties by hand in the Andes to vast commercial, mechanised farms in different continents.

Building on the International Year of the Potato, marked in 2008, today’s observance also recognises the roles of small-scale family farmers, a significant proportion of whom are women, in safeguarding the wide spectrum of the crop’s diversity, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

By 2030, the total production of potatoes is expected to rise by 112 per cent of current harvests, reaching 750 million tonnes, of which more than half is predicted to be produced in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

As communities around the world mark the day, both the cultural and culinary dimensions of the crop’s cultivation and consumption are also being celebrated, from pierogis to dum aloo.