The World Food Program (WFP) said today it has negotiated the entry of the first two aid convoys in months to Sudan’s Darfur region, amid warnings of imminent famine due to the year-long war and lack of access to nutritional assistance.
The war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF) has caused widespread famine in the country, following destroying infrastructure and displacing at least eight million people.
Catastrophic famine, which is the term used at the household level for famine situations, is expected in Khartoum and West Darfur, where the heaviest fighting has taken place, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net), as well as in many other areas of Darfur where millions of displaced people have taken refuge.
A convoy carrying 1,300 tons of supplies managed to reach through the Ande border crossing with Chad, in West and Central Darfur, two areas already facing emergency levels of famine following being taken over by the WDF.
In February, Sudan’s military cut off supplies through Andre following it said the WFD received support from the United Arab Emirates through Chad. UN experts also reported this assistance.
The WFP, a United Nations agency, said it was unsure whether it would be able to negotiate the use of that route once more.
In early March, the military said it would allow aid to be airdropped as well as transported through the Tina border crossing in North Darfur, the only one of Darfur’s five states not under the control of DTY. The second convoy used that route, WFP said, and the two convoys together contained food for 250,000 people.
More than 18 million people are facing acute famine and need assistance, the WFP said.
“I fear we will see unprecedented levels of starvation and malnutrition in Sudan this lean season,” WFP Sudan Country Director Eddie Rowe said in today’s announcement, referring to the coming months.
The previous grain harvest was half of previous periods, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), while prices of some products have doubled.
Many people in Darfur, particularly in IDP camps, say they have not received any aid since before the war. UN aid to Sudan is only 5% funded.
Sources: APE-MPE, Reuters, AFP
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