The World Food Programme warns of a famine threatening millions of Sudanese refugees.

June 30, 2025 (PEN) The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that millions of Sudanese refugees fleeing to neighboring countries face an increased risk of hunger and malnutrition due to a severe funding shortfall, forcing the program to make drastic cuts in life-saving food aid.

The program explained in a statement that more than 4 million people have fled Sudan since the outbreak of the conflict in April 2023, noting that many families are arriving in a state of extreme shock, without food or belongings.

According to the statement, the program has provided emergency aid in seven neighboring countries, including Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Sudan. However, current funding is insufficient, and support may cease in the Central African Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Libya in the coming months. Food rations in Chad are also being reduced unless new contributions are made.

"This is a full-blown regional crisis in countries already struggling with food insecurity," said Sean Hughes, the program's Regional Emergency Coordinator for the Sudan Crisis, warning that further cuts will put vulnerable children and families at risk of hunger and malnutrition.

The statement indicated that acute malnutrition rates have exceeded the emergency threshold among refugee children, particularly in Uganda and South Sudan, and that the program requires more than $200 million to cover the needs of refugees abroad, in addition to $575 million to support operations inside Sudan.

"Food aid is a lifeline, but what we really need is political and diplomatic action to end the fighting and put an end to forced displacement," Hughes concluded.