United Nations: Rhino – Agencies the United Nations spokesperson in Geneva, Alessandra Vellucci, told reporters on Tuesday that the delegations of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, which are participating in talks in Geneva on the delivery of humanitarian aid, under the leadership of the UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy to Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, are ‘engaged’ in the talks, adding that Lamamra and his team had several contacts with each of them earlier this week.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that hunger and the fear of famine are stalking Sudan, with 800,000 people still trapped in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, without enough food, water or medical support.

While on an assessment mission in neighboring Chad last week, desperate refugees told him that ‘the main reason they are leaving Sudan now is because of hunger, because of famine. They said it was not insecurity, not lack of access to basic services, but because we don’t have anything to eat there.’

He was shocked when a woman who fled Darfur and arrived in the Chadian city of Adré told him that she had walked for three days with her children in search of safety, with no food for the entire journey.

Sahbani warned that the humanitarian response in Sudan remains underfunded: ‘If we don’t get a ceasefire, we can at least get protection for civilians and open humanitarian corridors.