The World Food Program has received reports of the death of hungry people in Sudan, noting that the number of hungry people has doubled over the past year due to the war that deprived
civilians from aid.
The World Food Program called on both warring parties in Sudan, the army and the Rapid Support Forces, to provide immediate guarantees for the delivery of humanitarian food aid to areas affected by the conflict without delay. Displaced people in conflict-affected areas suffer from hunger and do not reach life-saving aid due to siege and isolation.
Nearly 18 million people across Sudan suffer from acute hunger, with more than 5 million people facing emergency levels of hunger in areas most affected by the conflict.
The World Food Program said in a statement that it was able to deliver aid to only one out of every ten people in these areas, including the capital, Khartoum, the West Darfur region, and Gezira state, which was recently invaded by the Rapid Support Forces.
“Security threats, roadblocks, and demands for fees and taxes have made access to relief agencies almost impossible,” the statement said.
The World Food Program said it was trying to obtain security guarantees to resume its operations in Gezira State, which was previously an aid delivery hub with many people fleeing Khartoum.
He added that aid deliveries in Sudan were restricted, as 70 trucks were stuck in Port Sudan for more than two weeks and 31 other trucks were stuck in El Obeid for more than three months.
Under the classification agreed upon by UN agencies and NGOs, crisis-level hunger means that households suffer from high rates of acute malnutrition or are unable to meet minimum needs through crisis coping strategies and spending on basic assets.
Emergency-level hunger means that households are suffering from a sharp rise in acute malnutrition, are on the verge of death, or can only be addressed through emergency measures or liquidation of assets.
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