{"id":78974,"date":"2024-12-23T23:00:52","date_gmt":"2024-12-23T20:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kfm.co.ug\/?p=78974"},"modified":"2024-12-24T07:58:33","modified_gmt":"2024-12-24T04:58:33","slug":"sudan-drops-out-of-hunger-monitor-system-on-eve-of-famine-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/sudan-drops-out-of-hunger-monitor-system-on-eve-of-famine-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Sudan drops out of hunger-monitor system on eve of famine report"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Reuters<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Sudanese government has suspended its participation in the global hunger-monitoring system on the eve of a report that\u2019s expected to show famine spreading across the country, a step likely to undercut efforts to address one of the world\u2019s largest hunger crises.<\/p>\n

In a letter dated Dec. 23, the government\u2019s agriculture minister said the government is halting its participation in the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system. The letter accused the IPC of \u201cissuing unreliable reports that undermine Sudan’s sovereignty and dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the IPC is expected to publish a report finding that famine has spread to five areas in Sudan and could expand to 10 by May, according to a briefing document seen by Reuters. \u201cThis marks an unprecedented deepening and widening of the food and nutrition crisis, driven by the devastating conflict and poor humanitarian access,\u201d the document stated.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Rome-based IPC declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Sudan\u2019s withdrawal from the IPC system could undermine humanitarian efforts to help millions of Sudanese suffering from extreme hunger, said the leader of a non-governmental organization operating there, speaking on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithdrawal from the IPC system won\u2019t change the reality of hunger on the ground,\u201d the NGO source said. \u201cBut it does deprive the international community of its compass to navigate Sudan\u2019s hunger crisis. Without independent analysis, we\u2019re flying blind into this storm of food insecurity.\u201d<\/p>\n

A diplomat with Sudan’s mission to the United Nations in New York didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment on the move to cut off the IPC.<\/p>\n

The IPC is an independent body funded by Western nations and overseen by 19 large humanitarian organizations and intergovernmental institutions. A linchpin in the world\u2019s vast system for monitoring and alleviating hunger, it is designed to sound the alarm about developing food crises so organizations can respond and prevent famine and mass starvation.<\/p>\n

IPC analysts typically partner with national governments to analyze data related to food insecurity and to report on conditions within a country\u2019s borders. The government has headed the IPC\u2019s analysis group in Sudan. But the system has increasingly struggled to function since civil war erupted in April 2023. The fighting between the army-backed government and its foe, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary, has disrupted data collection in areas held by both sides.<\/p>\n

A recent Reuters investigation found that the Sudanese government obstructed the IPC\u2019s work earlier this year, delaying by months a famine determination for the sprawling Zamzam camp for internally displaced people where some have resorted to eating tree leaves to survive.<\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s letter was addressed to the IPC and its Famine Review Committee, which vets and verifies a famine finding, as well as to diplomats. It says the forthcoming IPC report lacks updated malnutrition data and assessments of crop productivity during the recent summer rainy season. The growing season was successful, the letter says. It also notes \u201cserious concerns\u201d about the IPC\u2019s ability to collect data from territories controlled by the RSF.<\/p>\n

The IPC\u2019s struggles go beyond Sudan. In a series of reports this year, Reuters has reported that authorities in Myanmar and Yemen have also tried to thwart the global hunger-monitoring process by blocking or falsifying the flow of data to the IPC or suppressing its findings.<\/p>\n

In Myanmar, the IPC recently scrubbed from its website its assessment on hunger there, fearing for the safety of researchers. Reuters recently reported that representatives of the country\u2019s ruling military junta have warned aid workers against releasing data and analysis showing that millions in Myanmar are experiencing serious hunger.<\/p>\n

In Ethiopia, the government disliked an IPC finding in 2021 that 350,000 people were experiencing catastrophic acute food insecurity \u2013 so it stopped working with the IPC.<\/p>\n

Alex de Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University\u2019s Fletcher School, called Sudan\u2019s move to stop cooperating with the IPC \u201cboth pathetic and tragic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s part of a long history of the government of Sudan denying famine going back more than 40 years,\u201d said de Waal, a leading specialist on famine. \u201cWhenever there\u2019s a famine in Sudan, they consider it an affront to their sovereignty, and they\u2019re more concerned about their pride and their control than they are over the lives of their citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Reuters The Sudanese government has suspended its participation in the global hunger-monitoring system on the eve of a report that\u2019s expected to show famine spreading across the country, a step likely to undercut efforts to address one of the world\u2019s largest hunger crises. In a letter dated Dec. 23, the government\u2019s agriculture minister said the government is halting its participation in the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system. The letter accused the IPC of \u201cissuing unreliable reports that undermine Sudan’s sovereignty and dignity.\u201d On Tuesday, the IPC is expected to publish a report finding that famine has spread to five areas in Sudan and could expand to 10 by May, according to a briefing document seen by Reuters. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":78975,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[373],"class_list":["post-78974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-sudan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78974"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kfm.dembefm.ug\/staging_h\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}