New York –

Humanitarian groups say an international support conference for Sudan next week must be a success as 18 million Sudanese face a hunger crisis and funding for life-saving programs is about to run out.

“It is vital that we secure sufficient funding to scale up [up] Michael Dunford, WFP regional director for East Africa, told reporters in Nairobi.

Ministers will gather in Paris on Monday for a two-part meeting co-hosted by the European Commission, France and Germany. The meeting will discuss ways to advance a political solution to the conflict and hold separate humanitarian meetings for Sudan and its neighbors, with humanitarians and international donors.

The event will be held on the first anniversary of the start of the civil war, which led to increased food insecurity and the displacement of millions of people.

“As fierce fighting continues, the humanitarian tragedy is getting worse,” Justin Brady, director of the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan, told reporters in Port Sudan.

“Nearly 5 million people are already one step away from famine,” he said. “Recent analysis indicates that famine is expected to occur in parts of Khartoum and greater Darfur, particularly in hard-to-reach areas.”

Children are particularly affected, with an estimated 730,000 people suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Brady said that without emergency assistance, more than 200,000 children could die in the coming weeks and months.

Humanitarians are particularly concerned because these numbers hit record highs during harvest season, when food should be available and affordable. But farmers and herders have fled, their crops and livestock withering, dying or being destroyed as a result of a year-long war between rival Sudanese generals.

As Sudan enters its lean season in June, the number of people severely food insecure is likely to increase from the current 18 million.

“That’s why we are extremely concerned that the five million people in emergency food insecurity could reach catastrophic levels in the coming months,” said the WFP’s Dunford. “This is a very real risk indeed, It could become the world’s biggest hunger crisis – if it doesn’t already exist.”

Brady said that despite dangers, bureaucratic difficulties, funding shortages and other constraints, humanitarians have provided aid to more than 8 million people since the war began.

However, with the United Nations’ $2.7 billion humanitarian appeal funded at just under 6%, this aid is in jeopardy. About $400 million is needed immediately so aid workers can pre-prepare supplies ahead of the lean season, and an additional $700 million is needed to sustain the response in the coming months as humanitarians launch famine prevention programs.

Neither warring side is expected to send representatives to the Paris conference, but members of Sudanese civil society have been invited to attend.

Sudan is now home to the world’s worst internal displacement crisis, with 6.3 million people forced to leave their homes in search of safety. Another 1.7 million people have fled to neighboring countries. More than 70% of health facilities in conflict areas have ceased operations.