Christina Philips, director of resources and public engagement for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, on why the world must heed the desperate food shortages caused by civil war in Sudan.

“I’m sorry we’re running late, but one of our offices was just shelled.”

That’s how an online meeting started last week as I met with members from LMI Sudan, who partner with CanadianFoodgrains Bank member ERDO — Emergency Relief and Development Overseas. This is the world in which they work — a world where the humanitarian needs keep multiplying as the civil war keeps going.

This time, the office was empty when the explosives hit. Last month, it wasn’t — and they lost one of their colleagues, Al-Hbaib Abbas.

Al-Hbaib’s death should not be in vain. It should be a rallying cry for those of us who don’t have to worry if our homes or offices will be bombed today. April 15 marked three years of civil war in Sudan. Now, more than 33 million people in the country need emergency assistance — a number that doesn’t even include millions who have fled into neighbouring countries, trying desperately to find safety from this civil war.

Yet too many people are turning away from this crisis.

What does that say about us, as people? As a nation? Three years in, the death toll continues to rise, millions are in desperate need of food, and people would rather turn away than pay attention because it is hard to watch. Imagine living it.

Right now, I sit in Sudan, meeting with colleagues who live this day in and day out, incredibly moved by their passion for helping people, which means putting their lives on the line. They yearn for peace with a longing that comes from witnessing the consequences of war in a way most of us can’t fathom.

Like all of us, their personal lives are impacted by the rising costs they face. Soaring gas prices hit their pockets at home. At work, these increases mean trucking food into areas where people are starving becomes an even bigger financial burden.

As food prices rise, their personal grocery bills are impacted. At work, they carry the burden of deciding who gets food and who gets turned away — because there is simply not enough to go around. Why isn’t there enough to serve people who are at risk of starving? It’s because the governments of wealthy nations are choosing to slash foreign aid budgets instead of leaning in to save lives when it is most needed: when famine has been declared, and people of all ages are starving.

In the face of these devastating cuts, the financial support of everyday Canadians has continued to make life-saving work possible. Through our member Development and Peace–Caritas Canada, Trocaire Sudan is providing vital malnutrition treatment to more than 13,000 young children and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. This could include fortified therapeutic food, vitamins or supplements, medical care, nutrition counselling services and follow-up support from partner staff.

For these 13,000 women and children, this support is the difference between despair and hope. But it’s estimated that in Sudan, there are over 800,000 children and pregnant mothers in need of this care. What does this look like? Mothers carrying their toddlers for hours, walking from community to community, trying to find help — because food is unavailable. Every single one of them deserves the right to a healthy life yet if help never arrives, the cost will be both unimaginable and unacceptable.

When the rest of the world turns a blind eye, we must not allow the values Canadians hold dear to be questioned because we follow suit. This is a time for Canada to step up and provide the leadership the world is aching for — leadership that says human lives are worth the effort to find peace and provide food. Leadership that leads the way with compassion at the forefront of our response.

Will we find it?