The UN announced that a humanitarian aid convoy was sent to Sudan on Tuesday through the Adré border crossing, between Chad and Darfur, which was reopened for three months after six months of closure.
“More than a dozen aid trucks – including several from the World Food Program (WFP) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) – entered Darfur from Chad through the Adré border crossing,” he welcomed the spokesman of the Secretary General of the UN, Stéphane Dujarric , at a press conference on Wednesday.
The WFP trucks were carrying sorghum, legumes, oil and rice which should benefit some 13,000 people at risk of famine in the Kerenik region, in West Darfur, while those from the IOM were intended for about 12,000 people, the spokesman said.
Since April 2023, the war in Sudan has been on the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who opposed the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR) of his former deputy, General Mohammed Hamdane Daglo.
As a result of the conflict, more than 25 million people are currently suffering from severe hunger according to the UN, or almost half of the country’s population.
Critical reopening
“The reopening of the Adré crossing is critical to efforts to prevent famine from spreading across Sudan and it must now remain open,” WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain said in a statement on Wednesday.
“I would like to thank all parties for taking this necessary step to enable WFP to provide life-saving assistance to millions of people who desperately need it.”
Ms. McCain called for the opening of more border crossings and the creation of humanitarian corridors to enhance aid delivery. “This is the only way to avoid widespread famine,” she said.
The Sudanese government said the Adré crossing would be open for the next three months.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) welcomed this decision by the Sudanese authorities on Thursday, while asking it to remain open beyond the planned three months.
“This is the first positive step, but we remind all parties that these three months coincide with the rainy season, with heavy rains and flash floods that make complex problem,” the ICRC said in a press release.
Civilians trapped
The war has plunged Sudan into a serious humanitarian crisis and humanitarian organizations have been denying the insecurity that prevents them from delivering aid for months.
While the humanitarian situation is suffering a relative improvement in West Darfur, the conflict is still raging in the north, warns the ICRC.
Thousands of civilians are trapped by the violent fighting that is affecting the town of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, whose only open hospital has been targeted and is facing a shortage of medical equipment.
The NGO, which laments that so far they have not been able to support El Fasher, as well as the Zam Zam displaced persons camp and other areas affected by the fighting, is asking the parties to the conflict to ensure access to humanitarian organizations “before now. it’s too late.”
Both sides have been accused of war crimes, including the indiscriminate bombing of populated areas in this conflict that has left tens of thousands dead and displaced more than 10 million people, according to the UN.
They are also accused of burning and obstructing humanitarian aid, as well as nearly destroying an already fragile health system.
2024-08-22 16:28:41
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