GENEVA – The war in Sudan has spiraled into the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis, with over 10 million people displaced within the country and another 4 million fleeing to neighboring states, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned Monday.

Since April 2023, clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have devastated communities, triggering an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe across Sudan and its borders.

“This is a full-blown regional crisis playing out in countries already struggling with extreme food insecurity and chronic conflict,” said Shaun Hughes, WFP’s emergency coordinator for the Sudan crisis.

⚠️ A Region on the Brink

Refugees have flooded into Chad, Egypt, South Sudan, Libya, Ethiopia, and the Central African Republic—many arriving in regions already short on resources. In Chad, which now hosts more than 850,000 refugees, the WFP warned that rations are being cut again, even as 1,000 new refugees cross the border daily from Sudan’s Darfur region, where famine and violence rage on.

“Refugees from Sudan are fleeing for their lives, only to face hunger and hopelessness,” Hughes said.

In Egypt, home to 1.5 million Sudanese refugees, food aid has already been slashed. Assistance to 85,000 people has been cut, and all support for vulnerable refugees may end by August without urgent donor support.

🆘 Humanitarian Response Critically Underfunded

The UN’s humanitarian response plan for Sudan is only 14.4% funded — a dangerous shortfall for what has also become the world’s largest hunger crisis.

Inside Sudan, 8 million people are now on the brink of famine, while nearly 25 million face dire food insecurity.

“Food assistance is a lifeline for refugee families with nowhere else to turn,” Hughes warned.

A UN donor conference in Spain this week seeks to rally international support. Without immediate funding, humanitarian agencies say they will be forced to halt operations entirely in some areas.