Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Israeli artillery strikes target Khan Younis, the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian media: IOF arrest leader Jamal al-Tawil, who was liberated as part of the prisoner exchange, from his home in al-Bireh.
Palestinian media: 'Israel' launches two airstrikes on eastern Khan Younis, Gaza.
Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in Gaza: Israeli occupation forces carry out demolitions in eastern Gaza City.
Venezuelan Foreign Ministry: The National Armed Forces will remain on alert and mobilized in the face of this extremely dangerous provocation.
Venezuelan Foreign Ministry: This is not a defense exercise, but rather a military aggression aimed at turning the Caribbean into a space for violence and US hegemony.
Venezuelan Foreign Ministry: The government of Trinidad and Tobago has surrendered the country's sovereignty to act as a military colony serving US interests.
Rapid Support Forces attack El-Fasher, west Sudan.
Al Mayadeen correspondent: One martyr and one wounded in an Israeli drone attack on the town of Hafir, west of Baalbek, eastern Lebanon.
Al Mayadeen correspondent: An Israeli drone fired three missiles in the vicinity of the town of Bodai, west of Baalbek.

UN aid chief decries 'egregious' breaches of Sudan humanitarian pledge

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 18 May 2023 21:42
4 Min Read

The UN aid chief underlines that assistance must be scaled up dramatically to respond to the spiraling situation in Sudan.

  • x
  • Sudan
    Sudanese women and children fleeing amid the conflict in Sudan (ICRC)

UN aid chief Martin Griffiths decried on Thursday multiple serious breaches of an agreement by Sudan's warring parties last week to spare civilians and civilian infrastructure and to allow the passage of badly needed aid.

Griffiths welcomed the May 12 declaration signed in the Saudi city of Jeddah by the two sides in Sudan's bloody conflict vowing to refrain from attacking humanitarians delivering desperately-needed aid.

He told AFP that "there are breaches of the declaration however, which are important and egregious, and which have happened since the signing." 

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) confirmed on Wednesday that its Khartoum warehouse had been raided a day earlier, while Griffiths pointed to an attack the same day on the World Food Programme (WSF) office in the Sudanese capital among "many" examples.

"We are naturally enough building up a record of such events, and we will be talking to the two parties about them as the process goes forward," he stressed.

The UN aid chief underlined that assistance must be scaled up dramatically to respond to the spiraling situation in Sudan since the conflict erupted on April 15 between army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who leads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

#Sudan is plunged into complete chaos one day after clashes broke out between the #Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and a paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). pic.twitter.com/C4zxUOWKEJ

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) April 16, 2023

WFP lost nearly $56 million

Only one month in, around 1,000 people have been killed, mainly in and around Khartoum, as well as in the long-troubled western region of Darfur.

The UN highlighted on Wednesday that half of Sudan's population needs humanitarian aid and that more than $3 billion will be needed this year alone to provide urgent assistance inside the country and to those fleeing across its borders.

Griffiths considered that this was "a very modest appeal" given the enormous needs, urging donors to step up.

Hopes for a ceasefire remain dim after multiple truces were violated in the past weeks. While discussions in Jeddah to reach a ceasefire are underway, Griffiths explained that the negotiations around the declaration signed last were separate.

Related News

UN aid chief decries looming famine in Sudan, Gaza

'Israel' used captives to kill, starve Palestinians: UN expert

They were focused on ensuring that aid could flow even if the fighting continues and to help bring an end to the attacks and looting that depleted food stocks and put most health facilities in Khartoum out of service.

The WFP told AFP on Thursday that since the start of the conflict, it had lost nearly $56 million due to looted food, stolen cash and fuel, and damaged or stolen vehicles and office equipment. 

"That's an enormous and shocking figure, a disgraceful figure," Griffiths expressed.

Read more: 200,000 Sudanese have sought refuge in neighboring countries

Khartoum 'one of the most dangerous places in the world'

The UN aid chief acknowledged that it could take time for the May 12 declaration to filter down to people on the ground, adding that important work is being done at the local level to ensure aid can get through.

"Getting dependable local agreements of safety and security for humanitarian safe passage, for supplies and people" have for instance enabled UNICEF to begin moving supplies in an area south of Khartoum, he said.

Griffiths admitted that Khartoum remains "one of the most dangerous places in the world" for humanitarians to work.

In Darfur, he warned of the "dangerous and added ethnic element, which by the way is now facing the whole country."

According to medics, violence in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state, has killed hundreds and caused the health system to "collapse".

Griffiths noted that Darfur "was a place of dire need and extraordinary insecurity and great fragility" even before the latest crisis, adding that the renewed conflict was "just inconceivably dreadful for its people."

He confirmed that efforts were underway to organize aid deliveries across the border from Chad into Darfur, hoping that airlifts could be organized "maybe out of Nairobi" into Darfur and Khartoum.

At the same time, Griffiths lamented that due to continued bureaucratic hurdles, "we're still having difficulty moving supplies that are coming into Port Sudan" further into the country.

According to the UN aid chief, this situation could be fixed, and "it should be done urgently."

Read more: Pressure by 'all possible means' needed to halt Sudan fighting: UN

  • Martin Griffiths
  • United Nations
  • Sudan clashes
  • Sudan
  • sudan crisis
  • Khartoum

Most Read

'Israel’s Digital Iron Dome: Weaponizing the web against Palestine

'Israel’s Digital Iron Dome: Weaponizing the web against Palestine

  • Technology
  • 24 Oct 2025
Abu Hamza, the spokesperson for the Al-Quds Brigades, during a speech televised on October 22, 2025 (Al-Quds Brigades Military Media)

Al-Quds Brigades' Abu Hamza mourns leaders, vows continued resistance

  • Politics
  • 22 Oct 2025
US missionary kidnapped in Niger capital, suspected taken toward Mali

US missionary kidnapped in Niger capital, suspected taken toward Mali

  • Africa
  • 23 Oct 2025
What Marr evidently didn't seem to understand was that Hedges isn't saying that Western journalists manipulate the truth, but that they systematically amplify Israeli narratives they know are false. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Western journalists know they have a case to answer for their betrayal of Gaza, and it frightens them

  • Opinion
  • 24 Oct 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
Sheikh Naim Qassem speaks during an interview with Al-Manar TV, October 26, 2025 (Screenshot)
Politics

Hezbollah ready to face 'Israel' in case of war: Sheikh Naim Qassem

A Russian cargo train arrives at Astara Railway Wharf, March 2018 (IRNA)
Economy

Tehran, Moscow to finalize INSTC rail project next month

Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf addresses the media after submitting his candidacy for the Islamic Republic's upcoming presidential election in Tehran on June 3, 2024 (AP)
Politics

UNSCR 2231 termination marks major win for Iran’s diplomacy: Qalibaf

ap
Politics

'Israel' killed 40 Palestinian children in West Bank since January: UN

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS