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
The Israeli Walla! website: We are running out of stockpiles, our forces are exhausted, and the lives of the captives are in danger. It is time for a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
Several wounded in an Israeli bombardment of a tent in al-Mawasi, south of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli media: Three wounded, three killed in an ongoing operation in the Gaza Strip.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in southern Lebanon: Israeli artillery shelling targets the outskirts of the town of Shebaa
Al-Qassam Brigades: The targeting took place at the intersection of 'Street 5' with the western line north of Khan Younis
Al-Qassam Brigades: A NIMR armored personnel carrier carrying an Israeli soldier was targeted with an Al-Yassin missile north of Khan Younis
Israeli media: At least two soldiers killed by anti-tank missile fired at Israeli army forces in the Gaza Strip
Local Syrian sources: Mortar shells fell on more than nine villages in the Sweida countryside
Local Syrian sources: Dozens of dead and wounded have arrived at Sweida hospitals as a result of ongoing clashes at several locations in the western Sweida countryside
Local sources: Civilians, including children and women, were injured in the al-Maqous neighborhood of Sweida, in Syria, as a result of ongoing clashes

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

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Major ambush in Gaza kills 6 Israeli troops, injures dozens

Major ambush in Gaza kills 5 Israeli troops, injures 14

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Israeli soldiers are seen in Beit Hanoun ahead of an operation by the al-Qassam Brigades, undated (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)

'Israel' on blast as media exposes report discrepancies in Gaza ambush

  • Palestine
  • 8 Jul 2025
Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

  • Politics
  • 9 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
The Freedom Flotilla ship Handala as it departs for Gaza, where it aims to break the maritime blockade at a port in Syracuse, Sicily in southern Italy on July 13, 2025. (AFP)
Palestine

Freedom Flotilla's Handala departs Sicily in bid to break Gaza siege

The container ship CMA CGM Laperouse, left, docks at the Georgia Ports Authority's Port of Savannah, Sept. 29, 2021, in Savannah, Ga (AP)
Politics

US shipbuilding woes deepen as tariffs, outdated policies backfire

Gaza war raises ethical questions for ex-Obama, Biden officials
Politics

Mercenary firm tied to Gaza war crimes hires Obama-Biden PR operatives

'Israel' targets children in Gaza collecting water
Palestine

'Israel' strikes Gaza kids fetching water, blames it on 'malfunction'

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