Displaced people gather to receive free breakfast meals at a neighborhood in Omdurman city,satka matka worli matka Sudan, on Aug. 1, 2024. More than half of Sudan's population now face acute hunger, a UN spokesman said on Thursday. (Xinhua/Mohamed Khidir)

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- More than half of Sudan's population now face acute hunger, a UN spokesman said on Thursday.

"More than half the population, that is 26 million human beings in Sudan, now face acute hunger, including 755,000 people facing catastrophic conditions, with hunger-related deaths also being recorded," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, at a daily briefing.

According to the latest report of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), catastrophic hunger conditions have been projected for the first time in the history of the IPC survey in Sudan, Dujarric said.

Fourteen areas in the country have been declared "at risk of famine" in the coming months, he said.

"Just to give you some context, one in every two Sudanese struggles to put enough food on their plates every single day," the spokesman added.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is scaling up its emergency response to save more lives in the country, by increasing the amount of assistance, and identifying innovative and effective ways to deliver immediate assistance to millions of people across Sudan and specially in hard-to-reach areas, according to Dujarric.

"WFP warns that we are in a race against time to stop famine in its tracks," he said, highlighting an urgent need for a massive increase in funding to ramp up assistance at the scale required to avert famine.

The United Nations and its partners warn that more people in Sudan will be pushed into catastrophic levels of hunger if the current war, which started in April 2023, doesn't stop.

Volunteers of a charity organization prepare to distribute food for displaced people at a neighborhood in Omdurman city, Sudan, on Aug. 1, 2024. More than half of Sudan's population now face acute hunger, a UN spokesman said on Thursday. (Xinhua/Mohamed Khidir)

Displaced people gather to receive free breakfast meals at a neighborhood in Omdurman city, Sudan, on Aug. 1, 2024. More than half of Sudan's population now face acute hunger, a UN spokesman said on Thursday. (Xinhua/Mohamed Khidir)

Displaced people gather to receive free breakfast meals at a neighborhood in Omdurman city, Sudan, on Aug. 1, 2024. More than half of Sudan's population now face acute hunger, a UN spokesman said on Thursday. (Xinhua/Mohamed Khidir)

Displaced people gather to receive free breakfast meals at a neighborhood in Omdurman city, Sudan, on Aug. 1, 2024. More than half of Sudan's population now face acute hunger, a UN spokesman said on Thursday. (Xinhua/Mohamed Khidir)