Sudan gov. to open humanitarian aid routes amid risk of hunger crisis

By Al Mayadeen English
6 Mar 2024 17:28

Several land and air routes will be utilized to allow the entrance of humanitarian aid into crisis-afflicted areas.

The belongings of people who crossed the border from Sudan sit in a yard at the Joda border crossing in South Sudan Tuesday, May 16, 2023 (AP)

The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, announced on Wednesday that the Sudanese government agreed to allow humanitarian aid through Chad and South Sudanese terminals.

In a post on X, Salami said that the Sudanese government informed her that it would facilitate the passage of humanitarian aid through the Tina crossing between Chad and Darfur, and the Renk crossing between Kosti and the White Nile State.

Today I was informed that the Sudanese Government would facilitate humanitarian access from Chad through the Tina border crossing.

We are now liaising with relevant authorities and parties so that we can get our humanitarian convoys back on the road.

There is no time to lose. pic.twitter.com/8FiMgG865B
— Clementine Nkweta-Salami (@CNkwetaSalami) March 5, 2024

"There is no time to lose. We are now liaising with relevant authorities and parties so that we can get our humanitarian convoys back on the road."

The Sudanese government's statement, reported by Reuters, explained that the government "will determine routes and airports in different regions to receive humanitarian aid."

The Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reported that the government had agreed to use the Tina crossing to enter aid from Chad into the al-Fasher region, the capital of North Darfur.

SUNA explained, quoting the Sudanese Foreign Ministry, that the use of the crossing comes in addition to other routes, including the Republic of South Sudan by river transport and the land road from Renk to Kosti. It also approved the usage of al-Fasher, Kadugli, and al-Obeid airports if difficulties were encountered on land routes.

Sudan at risk of becoming 'largest hunger crisis' amid war: WFP

The United Nations' World Food Programme declared on Wednesday that Sudan's almost year-long war "risks triggering the world's largest hunger crisis."

The war between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who leads the Rapid Support Forces, has left tens of thousands dead, and more than eight million displaced from their homes, which has made it the world's largest displacement crisis.

WFP executive director Cindy McCain said that "millions of lives and the peace and stability of an entire region are at stake," adding, "Twenty years ago, Darfur was the world's largest hunger crisis and the world rallied to respond."

"But today, the people of Sudan have been forgotten."

WFP highlighted that it cannot reach 90% of those facing "emergency levels of hunger," noting that only 5% of the population "can afford a square meal a day".