Distributions of United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) food assistance began on Saturday for thousands of people who have been trapped in Sudan’s capital Khartoum since fighting broke out six weeks ago.
The distributions come in the last days of the seven-day ceasefire agreed by both conflict parties, which is set to expire on Monday evening.
“This is a major breakthrough. We have finally been able to help families who are stuck in Khartoum and struggling to make it through each day as food and basic supplies dwindle,” says Eddie Rowe, WFP’s Country Director in Sudan.
“We have been working round the clock to reach people in Khartoum since the fighting began. A window opened late last week which allowed us to start food distributions. WFP must do more, but that depends on the parties to the conflict and the security and access they realistically guarantee on the ground.”
WFP is rapidly expanding the distribution of emergency food assistance across the country.
WFP requires US$731 million to reach 5.9 million conflict-affected people country-wide in the next six months.
WFP called on all parties to enable the safe delivery of urgently needed food aid, especially in Khartoum State where fighting has been raging for six weeks.
An estimated 2 – 2.5 million people in Sudan are expected to slip into hunger in the coming months because of the ongoing violence. This would take acute food insecurity in Sudan to record levels, with more than 19 million people affected, 40 percent of the population.
