The first aid convoys from Chad to Sudan have arrived, with a demand for continuous border opening
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The United Nations announced that, for the first time in months, it has successfully delivered the first humanitarian aid convoys to Darfur via Chad, after Sudanese authorities in Port Sudan cancelled humanitarian corridor permits from Chad in February. However, its unclear when the next aid convoy will be able to travel this route.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) stated today that two aid convoys crossed the border from Chad into Darfur in late March, providing assistance to around 250,000 people facing severe hunger in North, West, and Central Darfur.
The UN organization explained that the entry of these convoys required lengthy negotiations, and its uncertain whether the next convoy can be sent via this route. It warned that limited access to humanitarian aid will worsen the famine crisis in Sudan.
Eddie Rowe, WFP Representative and Country Director in Sudan, said, "We need continuous aid deliveries to war-torn communities through every possible route. Hunger will worsen in Sudan with the onset of the lean season in a few weeks."
Last week, 37 trucks carrying 1,300 metric tons of supplies entered West Darfur from Adré in Chad, and food distribution is ongoing in West and Central Darfur.
On March 23, another 16 trucks carrying around 580 metric tons of supplies entered North Darfur from Chads Tina border crossing, while six trucks carrying 260 metric tons of food reached the area from Port Sudan a few days later - marking the first aid delivery transported across conflict lines in six months.
The UN food agency warned that unless Sudanese people receive a continuous flow of aid through all possible humanitarian corridors from neighboring countries and across conflict lines, the famine disaster in the country will worsen.
Eddie Rowe added, "All food transport routes must remain open, especially the route from Adré in Chad to West Darfur, where hunger levels are dangerously high."
He continued, "The World Food Programme and our partners urgently need security assurances to distribute supplies in North Darfur to people struggling to get one basic meal a day. Cross-border operations from Chad to Darfur are essential to reach communities where children are already dying due to malnutrition."
The temporary halt of the humanitarian corridor from Chad, along with ongoing fighting, lengthy clearance of humanitarian shipments, bureaucratic obstacles, and security threats, have made it impossible for humanitarian workers to operate at the required scale to meet the hunger needs in Sudan.
In Darfur, 1.7 million people are living in emergency hunger levels, which precede famine declaration levels according to the international classification of food security.
Last month, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme, Cindy McCain, warned that war in Sudan could lead to the worst hunger crisis in the world unless Sudanese families and those who fled to South Sudan and Chad receive urgently needed food assistance. This requires unrestricted access, faster clearance, and funds to provide a humanitarian response that meets the enormous needs of civilians affected by the devastating war in Sudan.
