New Report Documents Government of Sudan's Starvation Warfare Against Its Own People

By Jeremy Reynalds
Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

SOUTH KORDOFAN, SUDAN (ANS) -- Food security conditions in South Kordofan, Sudan are dramatically declining, and malnutrition among children in the rebel-held areas of the conflict-torn state is on the rise.

An estimated 500,000 people in Sudan's South Kordofan state are at risk of starvation if food aid is not delivered to the conflict zone. These children were in Kadugli, South Kordofan on Oct. 21, 2011(Via www.globalpost.com)

That's according to a news release from the Enough Project, showing findings from the first international rapid food security and nutritional assessment conducted in South Kordofan since 2011.

According to the assessment, the prevalence of malnutrition among children in South Kordofan is "serious" bordering on "critical"-the worst or most dire World Health Organization malnutrition classification. The amount of households surviving on one meal per day has jumped to a staggering 81.5 percent, compared to only 9.5 percent one year ago, and zero percent two years ago.

According to the news release, more than 65 percent of households in South Kordofan have less than one week's worth of food. This is a problem, because food is not readily available for purchase in the area, and incomes are scarce or non-existent.

In addition, the news release stated, as a result of ongoing bombardment by the Sudan Armed Forces, the harvest this year is expected to be low-yielding and will run out quickly, leading to only a temporary improvement in the conditions there.

John Prendergast, Enough Project Co-founder, said in the news release, "The assessment's findings indicate that the situation in South Kordofan today is similar to the conditions leading up to the Horn of Africa famine in 2011. If the international community does not respond to these early warning indicators in South Kordofan, the situation could have devastating consequences for hundreds of thousands of people."

The news release said the nutritional assessment was carried out by an international non-governmental organization but, due to security reasons, the organization requested to remain anonymous and asked the Enough Project to publish the report.

According to the news release, the Enough Project was responsible for the report's final production and distribution, and had the assessment vetted by experts at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who found its findings to be credible.

Jennifer Christian, Enough Project Sudan policy analyst, said in the news release, "The rapid food security and nutritional assessment corroborates existing evidence of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in South Kordofan."

She added, "Given the government of Sudan's failure to comply with the terms of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2046, the U.N. Security Council must enact measures against Sudanese government officials responsible for the denial of aid into Blue Nile and South Kordofan states, and call on U.N. member States to take all measures necessary to deliver aid should the government of Sudan continue to ignore its obligations."

Enough is a project of the Center for American Progress to end genocide and crimes against humanity. Founded in 2007, the Enough Project focuses on crises in Sudan, eastern Congo, and areas of Africa affected by the Lord's Resistance Army.