Chad, Adre, Wednesday 21 August 2024 The first WFP food supplies destined for desperate communities in Sudan's Darfur have crossed the Adre border from Chad, after it was reopened by the Sudanese authorities following a six-month closure. WFP trucks, carrying sorghum, pulses, oil and rice destined for 13,000 people at risk of famine in Kereneik, West Darfur, crossed on Tuesday evening. WFP has food and nutrition supplies for around 500,000 people ready to move swiftly through the newly re-opened route.
WFP field update on food distribution in Sudan
PORT SUDAN – The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) is working around the clock to deliver food aid to communities facing acute hunger across Sudan. WFP’s priority is to provide vital assistance in 14 regions of Sudan to people facing famine or at risk of slipping into it after 500 days of ongoing conflict.
We have recently made progress in getting much-needed food and nutrition assistance through the reopened Adré border crossing in Chad, enabling WFP to provide the people of Sudan with much-needed regular support. WFP has assisted some 8.4 million people in Sudan since the war began 500 days ago in April 2023.
The latest updates from the field from WFP’s operations in Sudan:
- Since the reopening of the Adré crossing between Chad and Sudan to humanitarian convoys, WFP trucks carrying more than 630 metric tons – enough for about 55,000 people – have crossed into the Darfur region. The most recent shipment crossed on Tuesday, August 27.
- The food aid is intended for communities in Kerinik and Serba, two areas at risk of famine in West Darfur. Some supplies have already reached the town of Mornei in Kerinik while other convoys are still on their way. The progress of the convoys has been slowed by damaged bridges, as well as muddy and flooded roads as the peak of Sudan’s rainy season approaches.
- The World Food Program (WFP) is working to get food to half a million people through the Adré border crossing and into the hands of people across Darfur as soon as possible. There must be a regular flow of humanitarian aid through the Adré border crossing.
- WFP is also providing cash assistance to families across Darfur. The first cash transfers have started in Ardamta and Riyadh in El Geneina, West Darfur, while cash distributions are scheduled to start soon in Kulbus, West Darfur, and Zalingei, Central Darfur. A total of 300,000 people will receive cash assistance from WFP in these locations.
- Trucks carrying 1,134 metric tons of food – enough for about 280,000 people – crossed from Chad into Sudan’s Darfur region via the other border crossing – Tine – on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. The distribution of this vital food aid will begin as soon as possible in locations across Darfur for communities facing famine or at risk of slipping into it. This food aid has been stranded at the border due to flooding of seasonal riverbeds (wadis) associated with this year’s heavy rains. The floodwaters have receded slightly allowing trucks to move, although progress is still slow due to poor road conditions.
- In other parts of Sudan, WFP completed food distributions in Karri, Khartoum, supporting 45,000 IDPs. In August, WFP-supported central kitchens, run by emergency response rooms and community-based organizations in Khartoum, provided nearly 180,000 people with daily hot meals, while nutritional support continues in Karri, Omdurman and Ombada. Cash distributions are scheduled to begin next week in the two famine-prone localities in Khartoum.
- WFP provided high-energy biscuits to 14,000 flood-affected IDPs in Kassala, who were displaced by fighting in Sinja, Sennar State. Food distribution to newly displaced people from Sinja also continues for about 80,000 IDPs in Gedaref and Kassala.
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