Talks on the ongoing war in Sudan are scheduled to open in Switzerland on Wednesday, with discussion centring on humanitarian assistance for millions facing hunger and displacement amid the brutal conflict.

The U.S. has invited both parties to the war to Switzerland for the talks. Where the talks will begin on Wednesday remained secret for security reasons.

A power struggle between the army and paramilitary militias has been raging in the African country, which lies south of Egypt, since April 2023.

According to experts, famine is already raging in the North Darfur region, where hundreds of thousands have sought refuge.

The UN is calling it the world’s largest refugee crisis and a humanitarian disaster.

Many regions of the country are inaccessible to humanitarian aid workers due to the war.

The UN said that more than 25 million people are being threatened with hunger.

The U.S. has invited representatives of the army and militias, but whether they will participate remains uncertain.

If they do not attend, technical experts will discuss how access to humanitarian organisations can be improved.

The fighting has displaced more than 10 million people in the country, and others have fled across the borders.

According to the UN, both parties to the conflict are obstructing access to aid convoys.

Another problem is that the UN’s drive for donations, totalling $2.7 billion this year, has attracted around a third of the required funding. The German charity Welthungerhilfe is calling for humanitarian corridors in the country in view of the worsening famine.

“The world’s biggest humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Sudan,’’ the charity’s secretary-general, Matthias Mogge, said ahead of the talks. “More than 25 million people, half of the population, are in critical food situations, and 755,000 are at acute risk of starvation.” 

(dpa/NAN)