New York [US]: United Nations World Food Programme has lifted temporary suspensions of operations in Sudan amid a full-blown humanitarian ‘catastrophe,’ UN Executive Director Cindy McCain announced, according to the statement released by the UN.
As the war intensified in Sudan between rival military groups, millions are pushed into hunger, after which the UN Executive Director announced that the WFP has lifted a temporary suspension of operations. WFP had paused its life-saving activities after three staff were killed in North Darfur on 15 April, the first day of clashes between the Sudanese army and the rival Rapid Security Forces (RSF).
McCain said food distribution is expected to begin in four states – Gedaref, Gezira, Kassala and White Nile – in the coming days.
She underscored the need to end the fighting, noting that more than 15 million people were already facing severe food insecurity prior to the conflict, the statement read.
She warned that numbers are expected to “grow significantly” as the unrest continues.
Meanwhile, Abdou Dieng, the top UN aid official in the country, told ambassadors, who were attending the briefing that the conflict is turning the humanitarian crisis into “a full-blown catastrophe”.
With a population of 48 million, Sudan is the third most populous country in Africa. Roughly one-third of all people, nearly 16 million, required humanitarian assistance prior to the conflict, and some 3. 7 million were displaced, mostly in Darfur.
Hundreds of people have been killed since the fighting erupted just over two weeks ago. Tens of thousands have fled to safety, both inside and outside Sudan, while millions more have been confined to their homes, unable to access basic services, according to the statement.
Dieng said that despite the dire conditions, humanitarians continue to deliver life-saving assistance. Through partners, they have been providing healthcare as well as distributing supplies, medicine, water and fuel to hospitals, for example.
“Our commitment to the people of Sudan remains unwavering,” he said, speaking from Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast. A core UN team is now based in the city following the relocation and evacuation of staff last week from the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.
However, he noted that humanitarian capacity has been considerably impacted by the conflict, with many offices, vehicles, and warehouses looted and destroyed. WFP alone lost 4,000 metric tonnes of food in Nyala, South Darfur, the statement added.
