The World Food Program (PAM) has sent food aid to the city of Wad Madani, Sudan, marking a first for more than a year, APA learned Friday.
This initiative aims to brake the spread of famine in this country in East Africa, immersed in a civil war since April 2023 between the men of the junta, General Burhan, and the paramilitaries of the fast support forces (FSR) led by General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, known as Hemedti. On January 20, the first WFP trucks arrived in Wad Madani, carrying 260 tonnes of specialized foods to treat malnutrition, as well as cereals, oil, salt and legumes, to feed 30,000 people for a month , indicates UN Info, citing the UN agency.
“There is an extreme hunger situation-at least for the most vulnerable there,” said BBC, Alex Marianelli, Acting Director of PAM in Sudan, adding that “extreme hunger pockets” affect dozens Thousands of people in Wad Madani, a formerly prosperous city, nicknamed the former granary in Sudan.
The WFP had lost access to the city in December 2023, after having helped 800,000 people each month from this humanitarian center. Today, a change in the front lines has made it possible to relaunch the help. “The situation remains dangerous,” said Marianelli, but he added that improving stability should allow the delivery of more aid.
At the same time, new logistical advances are reported. On January 22, four barges carrying 1000 tonnes of PAM food aid reached Kosti, on the white Nile, after a trip from South Sudan. This shipment is the first to use this river route, marking significant progress in food supply in Sudan. “It will be crucial to meet the food needs of Sudan populations,” said Linus Mwaji, Logistics Manager of PAM in Renk.
-PAM also delivered food to Gebaish, in the state of the Western Kordofan, to feed 7,000 refugees from South Sudan. Convoists have also reached Zamzam’s displaced camp in Darfur-Nord and southern Khartoum, marking breakthrough in humanitarian access in high-risk areas.
However, the situation remains critical: famine threatens to spread to five other areas of Darfur-Nord by mid-May, and 17 other regions are also at risk. The UN and its humanitarian partners are trying to send thousands of additional foods to deal with the emergency.
Humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, Clémentine Nkweta-Salami, expressed strong concerns about the safety of civilians in El-Fasher, besieged by the FSR. “I am deeply alarmed by information reporting an imminent FSR attack in El-Fasher,” she said. She called on the parties in conflict to protect civilians, in accordance with international humanitarian law, in order to avoid aggravation of the situation and to preserve the perspectives of peace in Sudan.
ODL/TE/APA
