Sudan crisis must not be forgotten by world leaders, says UN food agency

In an appeal for greater global solidarity with the people of Sudan, the World Food Programme (WFP) said that around 800,000 people have fled to Ondo in neighbouring Chad after enduring “unimaginable violence”.

WFP Communications Officer Leni Kinzli told journalists in Geneva that those fleeing areas at risk of famine said that they had left “because there was nothing left to eat and all their crops had been destroyed by floods”.

Too dangerous to farm

Others said that “they could not even farm because it was too unsafe to go to their fields” because of fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces which erupted on 15 April last year.

“We are doing everything we can, but we cannot stop widespread starvation and hunger-related deaths without the support and attention of the international community,” said Ms. Kinzli. “World leaders need to give this humanitarian catastrophe the attention it requires that attention that needs to be translated into concerted diplomatic efforts at the highest levels to push for a humanitarian ceasefire and ultimately, an end to the conflict.”

Aid access granted

Since the Adre border crossing from Chad into Sudan reopened a month ago, WFP has transported 2,800 tons of food and nutrition supplies into the Darfur region – guaranteeing enough aid for a quarter of a million people. Of that number, 100,000 are at risk of famine, the UN agency said, warning that the war has pushed some 36 million people into hunger in Sudan and the neighbouring region.

“Trucks carrying vital food and nutrition supplies are crossing that border every single day, despite facing delays due to flooded seasonal rivers and muddy road conditions where aid convoys are getting stuck,” Ms. Kinzli said.

Although Chad is not at war, the needs are staggering there too, the WFP officer explained: “People are only met with hunger and destitution” once they cross the border from Sudan, she said. “Despite receiving food assistance, many are struggling to get by, eating once a day if they are lucky. Like a teenage girl I met…who lost her parents and is taking care of her younger siblings. Sometimes she’s only able to offer them water instead of a meal. If that is the situation for people in a comparatively safe and stable place, it is hard to imagine what people facing famine or at risk of famine in Sudan are going through.”