'People will starve' because of US aid cut to Sudan

                                          

According to the BBC, nearly 80% of the emergency food kitchens established to aid those left in poverty by Sudan's civil war have had to close because of the US humanitarian assistance freeze.

More than 1,100 communal kitchens were closed because of President Donald Trump's executive order that suspended funding from the US government's development agency (USAID) for 90 days, according to humanitarian workers.

Nearly two million people who are fighting for their lives are said to have been impacted.

Since it began in April 2023, the battle between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has resulted in millions of people being displaced, tens of thousands of deaths, and famine for many.

Emergency response rooms, a grassroots network of activists who remained on the front lines to address the crises in their communities, oversee operating the kitchens.

One of the emergency room organizers, Duaa Tariq, said, "People are knocking on the volunteers' doors." "People are screaming from hunger in the streets."

Last month, the Trump administration immediately halted all US aid to assess if it was "serving US interests" and started dismantling USAID.

According to Sudanese organizations and others, there is a great deal of misunderstanding and ambiguity regarding the practical implications of the State Department's exception for emergency food assistance.

 

It is unclear whether monetary support, which is what the communal kitchens rely on, or solely goods-in-kind would be reinstated, since the standard procedures for requesting a waiver through USAID are no longer available. It has been estimated that between 70 and 80 percent of the total money for these flexible cash initiatives came from USAID.

The conflict has left parts of the city, Khartoum, in ruins.

With famine conditions recorded in at least five regions, organizations attempting to address the world's worst food crisis are viewing the closing of most of Sudan's emergency kitchens as a serious setback.

Initially dependent on donations from the local community and diaspora during the early phases of the nation's civil war, the network of communal feeding centers later served as a hub for financing from foreign organizations, such as USAID, that were having difficulty reaching the battle areas.

 

Former USAID administrator Andrea Tracy views it as a "huge setback" and has established the Mutual Aid Sudan Coalition, a foundation for private donations to emergency rooms.

Samantha Power, the previous head of USAID, had supported the notion of collaborating with local organizations instead of solely depending on established avenues such as the United Nations.

Although funds had begun to move through foreign humanitarian groups that received grants from the US, a direct funding channel was being developed.

According to Ms. Tracy, "It was ground-breaking," "The only time that USAID had ever done this was with the White Helmets (humanitarian group) in Syria."

 

The reduction in US financing prevented Ms. Tariq from purchasing goods for the more than 25 kitchens she assists in serving in the six neighborhoods of the city, Khartoum. As the army moved closer to the territory, which the RSF has controlled since the start of the conflict, she told the BBC that they left them unprepared for a growing situation.

As the army tightened its siege and the RSF started to retreat, there was extensive market looting.
According to her, most of the kitchens had closed. Some are attempting to purchase food on loan from nearby farmers and fishers, but "we expect to see a lot of people starving" soon.

 

Those behind the community kitchens are now hoping to fill the funding gap through private donations

Ms. Tracy's Mutual Aid Sudan Coalition fund will do its best to fill the void left by USAID here and throughout the nation.

"I think we can shore up [the emergency kitchens]," she stated, "but the reality is that [private donations] are going to have to do even more now, because even if humanitarian assistance resumes, it's never going to be what it was."
According to a representative of a former USAID partner organization, "these volunteers were challenging us to work differently, and we were responding,"

They're "exhausted, traumatized and underfunded" and severely "we were scaling up to help them".

The State Department stated that information was communicated directly to organizations whose applications were approved, but it did not respond to specific enquiries regarding waivers for Sudan.

"The aid review process is not about ending foreign aid, but restructuring assistance to ensure it makes the United States safer, stronger, and more prosperous," it responded to a question from the BBC.

Although the World Food Programme (WFP) reports that it has been granted waivers for its 13 current Sudanese projects with USAID, it is uncertain what will happen to future financing. The negotiations will now take place under different circumstances, but that would have been under negotiation anyhow.

In terms of both direct contributions and contributions to the UN's Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan, the United States was Sudan's biggest single donor in 2024.

Millions have been displaced, and others have fled to neighboring countries, such as these individuals landing in South Sudan.

With over two million civilians currently living as refugees in neighboring countries, top UN officials told the BBC that the effects of Washington's policy change would extend beyond Sudan's boundaries.

After touring camps in Renk and Malakal, South Sudan, earlier this month, Rania Dagesh, the WFP's assistant executive director for partnerships and innovation, said, "I saw people who have fled conflict but not hunger."

The already limited resources have been further taxed by the refugee crisis.

"We have to rationalize, rationalize, rationalize," says Mamadou Dian Balde, director of the regional bureau of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

He told the BBC that he had also visited refugee camps in Egypt and Chad. "We are under stress. It's really challenging."

 

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Both give local communities credit for taking in refugees and sharing what little is available with them. In the instance of South Sudan, "it is a million extra people who've come into a country where already 60% of the population is in emergency hunger", adds Ms. Dagesh.

Nowadays, most families only eat once a day, with the elderly and children receiving priority.

However, you witness them thinning and deteriorating before your eyes, children that are undernourished. She remarked, "You see moms trying to breastfeed, but nothing is coming out of their breast."

Women, children, and some elderly individuals make up most of the refugees.

Most of the physically fit men were reportedly slaughtered or simply vanished. To protect themselves and the kids, they ran away. They have nothing.

Some people in South Sudan have attempted to sell firewood in response to the famine in the camps. However, Ms. Dagesh claims that it puts them at risk for rape, violence, and harassment.

Since the start of the conflict, over 700,000 Sudanese have fled west into neighboring Chad.

The agricultural regions of Sudan were the source of many of the refugees she encountered. Their lives and means of subsistence were upended by the conflict.

To return home, they would like to see peace restored, but the conflict has been going on for almost two years with no end in sight.

The closing of the kitchens providing emergency meals would only increase the number of people fleeing across borders, as the starvation situation inside Sudan worsens in the absence of a ceasefire.

However, relief organizations that would often assist are under pressure.

According to the UNHCR, it has been compelled to rationalize "to levels where our interventions are absolutely limited - they are at the minimum".

The fact that the agency was already underfunded does not help.

Only 30% of the expected amount was raised by donors in response to the UNHCR's appeal for donations last year, which forced their teams to reduce "everything," even the quantity of food and water that refugees could have.

The announcement of the aid freeze and subsequent waiver last month seems to have put the UNHCR in a state of uncertainty, given the US has been the organization's primary supporter.

"We are still assessing, working with partners, to see the extent to which this is affecting our needs," Balde told the BBC.

Some refugees are already turning to third nations, such as those in the Gulf, Europe, and beyond, for safety when faced with unfeasible options. According to Mr. Balde, some are setting off on "very dangerous journeys".