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19 August 2024 (Port Sudan) – More than 50 trucks are having difficulty delivering around 4,800 metric tons of food and nutrition aid to various parts of Sudan as roads have become flooded and impassable, the World Food Programme (WFP) said.
The statement said the food and nutritional aid was enough to feed at least 500,000 people.
The UN humanitarian agency (OCHA) said nearly 143,000 people were affected by flooding in 12 of Sudan’s 18 states and 50 people died.
In addition, at least 27,000 people have reportedly been displaced, and there are concerns that the extent of the damage and the number of people affected may be underestimated as some of the worst flooding has occurred in hard-to-reach conflict hotspots.
The World Food Programme said in a statement that the rainy season has exacerbated an already catastrophic situation in Sudan, with flooding forcing more people to flee their homes, increasing humanitarian needs and cutting off communities’ access to vital assistance.
But in addition to this, heavy rains destroyed major bridges and made it difficult for rescue convoys to traverse muddy, flooded roads.
The World Food Organization said that it had originally planned to deliver aid supplies to 500,000 people through the Tine border crossing this month, but the aid trucks are currently stranded on the Chad side. Due to heavy rains, most roads have been impassable and some trucks have been stuck for up to two weeks or even a month.
The World Food Programme expressed concern that fighting, which has spread to eastern Sennar and Gedaref states since late June, continues to intensify, raising fears that it could cut off the main humanitarian aid route from Port Sudan to other parts of Sudan.
The agency said the situation could also hamper WFP’s access to the Kosti hub, which is critical for delivering aid across conflict lines to people in White and Blue Nile states, Greater Kordofan and parts of Sudan’s Darfur.
Floods and heavy rains can also lead to the spread of waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid, which are extremely dangerous for malnourished children and women who have already borne most of the consequences of more than a year of war.
The World Food Programme says that while it is ready to deliver food to hungry people across Sudan, ongoing fighting is preventing food from reaching communities caught in conflict hotspots.
A humanitarian ceasefire is urgently needed to allow for a massive expansion of humanitarian access.
The agency stressed that a final end to the conflict is the only sustainable solution, further noting that it is crucial for the warring parties to leave the battlefield and return to the negotiating table.
The World Food Programme says it urgently needs to open all border crossings into Sudan so that it can use every possible supply route to deliver much-needed food and nutrition assistance to those in need.
The statement further said that this includes the opening of the border crossing from Adre (Chad) to West Darfur announced last week, and the formal agreement between South Sudan and Sudan to deliver aid from the south to Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile.
The World Food Programme says the planned Geneva peace talks will provide an important opportunity for the international community to directly address the wide-ranging operational challenges and access barriers that are hindering the delivery of aid.
(English stone)
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