The United States announced another $315 million for hungry Sudanese as it pressed the warring parties to end aid obstruction, warning that a famine of historic proportions could happen without urgent action.
Aid will include food and drinking water, as well as urgent examination and treatment of children for malnutrition.
Estimates say that five million people in Sudan are suffering from extreme hunger, and there is a lack of food in neighboring countries where two million Sudanese have fled.
– We need the world to wake up to the disaster that is happening before our eyes – Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters.
– We have seen mortality projections that estimate that more than 2.5 million people – about 15 percent of the population – in Darfur and Kordofan, the most severely affected regions, could die by the end of September – she said.
– This is the biggest humanitarian crisis on the face of the planet, and yet somehow it threatens to get worse – she said, pointing to expectations that the key border crossing will become impassable with the rainy season.
A UN humanitarian appeal for Sudan has received just 16 percent of its target, with much global attention focused on Gaza, where aid workers have also warned of the risk of starvation.
