The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) says it has succeeded in delivering desperately needed food and nutritional supplies to Sudan's Darfur region, the first WFP convoys to reach the war-torn region in months. But the UN food agency warned Friday that the hunger catastrophe in the country will only worsen unless the people of Sudan receive a steady flow of aid through all possible humanitarian corridors - from neighboring countries and across battle lines.
© WFP/Photolibrary
According to WFP, two aid convoys crossed the border into Darfur from neighboring Chad in late March, carrying food and nutritional assistance for some 250,000 people facing acute hunger in North, West and Central Darfur states. These first cross-border convoys follow lengthy negotiations to reopen these routes after Sudanese authorities in Port Sudan revoked permits for humanitarian corridors from Chad in February.
"We need aid to be consistently reaching war-ravaged communities through every possible route. Hunger in Sudan will only increase as the lean season starts in just a few weeks," said WFP Representative and Country Director in Sudan, Eddie Rowe, in a statement.
“I fear that we will see unprecedented levels of starvation and malnutrition sweep across Sudan this lean season.”
Exacerbating the situation, Sudan's national cereal production for 2023, including the wheat crop to be harvested in March 2024, is estimated at 4.1 million tons, 46 percent below the previous year's harvest and about 40 percent below the previous five years.
The temporary closure of the humanitarian corridor from Chad, as well as ongoing fighting, lengthy clearance processes for humanitarian cargo, bureaucratic obstacles and security threats, have made it impossible for humanitarian agencies to operate at the scale needed to meet Sudan's hunger needs.
Last week, 37 trucks carrying 1,300 metric tons of supplies entered West Darfur from Adre in Chad, and food distributions are underway in West and Central Darfur. However, WFP does not know when the next convoy will cross from Chad into Darfur.
West Darfur is largely controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). But both warring factions are obstructing access to Darfur.
Another 16 trucks carrying some 580 tons of supplies entered North Darfur from the Chadian border crossing of Tina on March 23, while six trucks carrying 260 tons of food reached the area from Port Sudan a few days later.
However, fierce fighting, lack of security and lengthy clearances by warring parties have delayed the distribution of this aid to people in need, WFP said.
"WFP and our partners urgently need security guarantees so supplies in North Darfur can be distributed to people who are struggling to find even one basic meal a day," Rowe said.
“Cross-border operations from Chad to Darfur are critical to reach communities where children are already dying of malnutrition. All corridors to transport food must remain open, particularly the one from Adre in Chad to West Darfur where levels of hunger are alarming," he added.
Last month, WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain warned that the war in Sudan risks triggering the world's worst hunger crisis unless families in Sudan and those who have fled to South Sudan and Chad receive desperately needed food aid.
April 15 will mark the one-year anniversary of the war in Sudan, which was sparked by a power struggle between two rival generals. Aid agencies say the war is having catastrophic consequences for a population of nearly 49 million people - more than half of whom, 24.8 million, are in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed and injured, and millions have been uprooted from their homes.
The war in Sudan is driving hunger to record levels: 18 million people are suffering from acute hunger, including 5 million in emergency situations - on the brink of famine. In Darfur, 1.7 million people are facing emergency levels of hunger.
While the United Nations has received reports of children dying from malnutrition, experts have warned that catastrophic levels of food insecurity - famine conditions - are expected in parts of West Darfur, Khartoum and among internally displaced people (IDPs), particularly in hard-to-reach areas of Darfur.
Due to insecurity, access constraints and lack of funding, humanitarian agencies have reached only 2.3 million people with life-saving assistance out of 14.7 million people targeted for assistance this year.
Among Sudan's children, 14 million are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, 19 million are out of school, and more than 4 million are displaced, making Sudan now the largest child displacement crisis in the world.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that the brutal war in Sudan is pushing the country towards famine and catastrophic loss of life, especially among children. Conditions are dire, with acute shortages of food and clean drinking water.
UNICEF predicts that nearly 3.7 million children in Sudan will be acutely malnourished this year, including 730,000 with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) requiring life-saving treatment. The UN agency has warned that without improved access and additional support, including increased international funding, tens of thousands of children are likely to die.
The non-governmental organization Save the Children has warned that 230,000 children, pregnant women and new mothers could die of hunger in the coming months unless urgent life-saving funding and assistance is provided to meet their needs.
To make matters worse, two-thirds of Sudanese lack access to health services after 70-80 percent of hospitals have ceased operations due to severe shortages of medical supplies, including life-saving drugs, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO says the escalating fighting is preventing desperately needed humanitarian aid from reaching millions of people across the country.
Meanwhile, outbreaks of cholera, measles, dengue fever, and malaria continue in the country.
Fighting broke out last April between forces loyal to Sudan's army chief, General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The two generals were once allies in Sudan's transitional government following a coup in 2021, but have become rivals for power. The conflict erupted amid a stalled transition to elections and a civilian-led government.
The ensuing power struggle has resulted in more than 14,000 deaths and 28,000 injuries, a massive displacement crisis, and large-scale atrocities, particularly against non-Arab communities in the country's Darfur region.
Nearly twelve months after the war between the SAF and the RSF began in the capital, Khartoum, more than 8.7 million people have been forced to flee their homes and seek refuge inside and outside Sudan.
More than 6.7 million of those displaced are within Sudan, while more than 2 million others have sought refuge in other countries. At least 1.8 million have fled across borders into neighboring South Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, Egypt, and the Central African Republic.
In total, some 12 million people are now displaced by conflict in Sudan, including more than 9.5 million within the country, making Sudan the largest internal displacement crisis in the world and one of the two largest displacement crises in the world, alongside the Syrian war.
The dire humanitarian situation in Sudan hardly receives the international political and media attention it deserves.
Further information
Full text: First food aid in months reaches Darfur, yet limited humanitarian access is worsening Sudan's hunger catastrophe, WFP, press release, published April 5, 2024
https://www.wfp.org/news/first-food-aid-months-reaches-darfur-yet-limited-humanitarian-access-worsening-sudans-hunger