UN: Food Available, People Dying, and We Cant Reach Them in Sudan
The United Nations has stated that people are dying of hunger in Sudan despite the availability of food. The UN is only able to reach one in every ten individuals due to security threats, roadblocks, and demands for fees and taxes. The situation in Sudan is described as catastrophic.
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The United Nations World Food Programme revealed in a statement this Friday that 70 trucks, carrying enough food to feed half a million people for one month, remained stranded in Port Sudan for over two weeks in January, awaiting permits. They were only cleared last week. Meanwhile, 31 other trucks belonging to the World Food Programme, empty and unable to leave El Obeid for over three months, were supposed to deliver regular aid to regions such as Kordofan, Kosti, and Wad Medani. Food distribution operations, however, continue in the states of Kassala, Gedaref, and Blue Nile.
The UN program once again called on the warring parties in Sudan to provide immediate guarantees urgently for the safe and unobstructed delivery of humanitarian food aid to conflict-affected areas in Sudan, especially through conflict lines where hungry displaced civilians are trapped and isolated from life-saving humanitarian assistance.
They urged immediate action to prevent the crisis from turning into a catastrophe, warning once again that a famine disaster is looming in the country. They emphasized that the number of hungry people has doubled from a year ago, while still seeking security guarantees to reach vulnerable families urgently in need of food assistance.
Eddie Rowe, the representative of the World Food Programme in Sudan and its Country Director, stated, "WFP has food in Sudan, but the lack of access and other unnecessary obstacles slow down operations and prevent us from delivering vital aid to those in desperate need of our support."
He said, "The horrific parties in this conflict must look beyond the battlefield and allow relief organizations to operate. We need unrestricted freedom of movement, including across conflict lines, to help people in urgent need now, regardless of their location."
He continued, "All our trucks should be on the road every day to deliver food to the Sudanese people, who are suffering from shock and exhaustion after over nine months of horrific conflict. However, life-saving aid is not reaching those in urgent need, and we are already receiving reports of people dying of hunger."
Rowe emphasized that hungry displaced civilians are trapped and isolated from life-saving humanitarian assistance, stating, "These people are trapped in hot conflict areas, including Khartoum, Darfur, Kordofan, and now the Gezira, and humanitarian convoys must be allowed to cross the confrontation lines to reach them. However, it has become almost impossible for relief agencies to cross due to security threats, roadblocks, and demands for fees and taxes."
