Hungry civilians are reportedly eating animal feed as women and girls face a “gender emergency” in war-torn Sudan, UN officials said on Thursday.

Particularly hard hit is El Fasher, where hunger is growing, with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warning of a deteriorating situation that is putting even more civilians’ lives at risk.

UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq disclosed the alarming food shortages in the war-torn country on Thursday at the UN Headquarters in New York.

“With increasingly alarming food shortages and spiraling prices, people in El Fasher are reported to be resorting to eating animal feed in what is an increasingly catastrophic situation,” Mr Haq said.

El Fasher has the highest cost of basic goods nationwide at nearly $1,000 per household per month, which is far beyond the reach of most families.

This includes more than $700 for food alone, more than eight times the cost of basic food items in other parts of the country, Haq said.

“These steep costs, coupled with the siege and lack of aid delivery by road for over a year, have left thousands facing starvation,” he added,

He noted that engagement around the calls from the secretary-general and the UN emergency relief coordinator for a pause in the area is “more important than ever”.

Similarly, OCHA’s director of operations and advocacy, Edem Wosornu, currently in the country, said the suffering was immense, with people trapped, displaced, or returning to face communities in ruins.

She called for unimpeded access and urgent support to reach those on the frontlines of hardship.

Warnings also came from UN Women, the UN’s gender equality agency.

“This crisis is a gender emergency,” Salvator Nkurunziza, the agency’s representative in Sudan, said.

“Displaced women and girls can be subject to the risks of exploitation and abuse, especially during the delivery of aid, where protection mechanisms are weak or absent in some locations.”

(NAN)