Food aid to Sudan will dry up by the end of March unless fresh funding is secured, the United Nations warned Thursday, intensifying fears for millions trapped in what has become the world’s worst hunger crisis.

Nearly three years of brutal fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have killed tens of thousands, displaced about 11 million people and repeatedly derailed efforts to restore peace.

Diplomatic initiatives led by the United States and regional mediators, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, collectively known as the Quad, have failed to produce a cease-fire, with both sides locked in a battle for territory.

Those stalled efforts were underscored Wednesday in Cairo, where senior officials from the Quad, alongside representatives of the United Nations, the European Union and regional bodies, met to assess the peace process, one that has so far yielded little tangible progress.

"By the end of March, we will have depleted our food stocks in Sudan,” said Ross Smith, director of emergency preparedness and response at the World Food Program.

"Without immediate additional funding, millions of people will be left without vital food assistance within weeks.”

According to the U.N., more than 21 million people, almost half of Sudan’s population, are facing acute food insecurity, with about two-thirds in urgent need of assistance.

Visiting Dongola, the capital of Sudan’s Northern state, on Thursday, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said many displaced people lack adequate shelter, while women have limited access to support services.

He called for an "all-out effort” by Sudanese authorities and the international community to enable the delivery of vital humanitarian aid.

The U.N. children’s agency UNICEF said last week that millions of children have been pushed "to the brink of survival” and that humanitarian aid remains "far from sufficient” amid funding shortfalls and ongoing hostilities.

‘Absolute minimum’

In December, outgoing U.N. refugee chief Filippo Grandi said a wave of "drastic, irresponsible” aid cuts had inflicted unnecessary suffering on people in need.

Smith said the World Food Program has been forced to cut rations to the "absolute minimum for survival” and warned that previous "hard-earned gains” in hard-to-reach areas risk being reversed.

The WFP says it urgently needs $700 million to continue its operations through June.

A U.N.-backed assessment confirmed last year that famine had taken hold in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, which was overrun by paramilitary forces in October.

On Wednesday, U.S. senior adviser for Arab and African affairs Massad Boulos said the U.N. delivered more than 1.3 metric tons of humanitarian supplies to El Fasher, the first such delivery since the city was besieged in May 2024.

Aid agencies warn, however, that a deteriorating security situation across Darfur continues to jeopardize the delivery of desperately needed assistance.

Famine has also been confirmed in Kadugli, in neighboring Kordofan, now a key battleground in the conflict.

In Dilling, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) north, the U.N. says civilians are likely experiencing famine conditions, though insecurity has prevented a formal declaration.

The U.N. warned that 20 more areas across Darfur and Kordofan are at risk.

Renewed peace talks

In November, President Donald Trump pledged to help end the conflict after Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged his intervention, but the promise has yet to materialize.

Quad-led talks have been deadlocked since army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said in November that the group was biased toward the UAE, which Sudan accuses of arming the RSF.

Abu Dhabi denies the accusations, despite reports from U.N. experts, U.S. lawmakers and international organizations.

In Egypt, historically the Sudanese army’s closest ally, U.N. Secretary-General’s Sudan envoy Ramtane Lamamra, met Wednesday with Boulos and other diplomats as part of the fifth meeting of the Consultative Mechanism to Enhance and Coordinate Peace Efforts.

Lamamra called it "a key and timely opportunity for international actors to align efforts and renew collective engagement,” but a diplomatic source told AFP there are no new truce proposals currently on the table.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Wednesday there was a consensus on a humanitarian truce and a rejection of "foreign interference.”

He also emphasized what he described as Egypt’s "red lines” and readiness to defend Sudan’s territorial integrity.