This morning, the UN Security Council held a briefing on the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Sudan. The meeting followed the alarming 1 August report of the Famine Review Committee that concluded there is famine in Zamzam camp for internally displaced persons in North Darfur. The Famine Review Committee in its report also warned that famine conditions are likely to be present in other areas in and around Darfur. Slovenia felt compelled to support the convening of this meeting.

“I have to begin with my utmost conviction that famine has no place in the 21st Century,” underlined Ambassador Samuel Žbogar in his opening remarks. He added that famine in Sudan is “utterly senseless, avoidable, entirely preventable and man-made.”

Currently, over 750.000 people are classified to be in IPC phase 5 – they are on the brink of starvation and 26 million people are in acute hunger. Two clear drivers of hunger are the violent conflict between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces and the obstacles posed to humanitarian access on both sides.

15 months into the conflict, Slovenia strongly reiterated its call for unimpeded humanitarian access via all available cross line and cross border routes to prevent further suffering.

“There is no humanitarian action that can replace the cessation of hostilities,” stressed Ambassador Žbogar, calling for an immediate ceasefire. As he said, a durable political solution is “the only way to fully avert the spread of famine and alleviate human catastrophe in Sudan.”

The use of starvation as a method of warfare is strictly prohibited by international humanitarian law. Slovenia called on the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces to comply with resolutions 2417 on hunger and conflict and 2736 on El Fasher.

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