DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The United Nations on Friday began distributing food for the first time in months in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur state following two successful border crossing operations, but the United Nations is still distributing food for the first time in months unless more aid arrives. It said residents still faced widespread hunger. .
A year-long war between the military and militias in Sudan has caused the world’s worst hunger crisis. The United Nations aid agency says 18 million people, about a third of the population, face severe hunger. The situation is particularly dire in Darfur province, where the worst of the fighting is ongoing.
UN official warns that Sudan faces the world’s biggest hunger crisis due to continuing conflict
The United Nations’ World Food Program said two aid convoys crossed the border from Chad in late March, but no further deliveries were scheduled.
The United Nations has begun distributing food for the first time in months in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur state following two successful border crossing operations, but residents still face widespread hunger unless more aid arrives. There is. (AP photo)
“As the lean season begins in the next few weeks, hunger in Sudan will increase further. We fear unprecedented levels of hunger and malnutrition will spread across Sudan,” said WFP’s Special Envoy for Sudan, Eddie. Mr Lowe said.
In March, the United Nations warned that some 222,000 children could die from malnutrition in the coming months if aid needs are not met quickly. The United Nations’ $2.7 billion aid request for Sudan was less than 5% funded as of last month.
Fighting in Darfur has been particularly intense, with brutal attacks on African civilians by Arab-majority rapid support forces reigniting fears of new massacres. In 2003, as many as 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million displaced, many by government-backed Arab militias.
The International Criminal Court said both sides committed war crimes.
The Sudanese war has also spread to neighboring countries. More than 500,000 new refugees from Sudan have arrived in Chad, bringing the country’s total refugee population to 1.1 million, the United Nations announced in March. The arrivals are straining existing refugee resources there.
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A UN spokesperson told The Associated Press on Friday that aid for all refugees in Chad is likely to run out soon.
“We are in the process of distributing the last of the aid money, and once that ends, all distributions will cease under current circumstances,” the spokesperson said.
