Sudan to open Adre border crossing to facilitate humanitarian aid access
UN aid agencies on Friday welcomed the news that the Sudanese authorities will open Adre border crossing from Chad into Sudan, as the war-torn country faces famine or acute hunger in many regions, with many roads impassable owing to heavy rains.
The vital humanitarian corridor will allow the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to scale up assistance to 14 areas facing famine in Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum and Gezira. “As we speak, two convoys with nearly 6,000 metric tons of food and nutrition supplies for around half a million people, are being loaded, destined for risk-of-famine areas in north, central and west Darfur states as soon as official government communication and clearances are received,” said Leni Kinzli, spokesperson for WFP Sudan.
Just two weeks ago, famine was confirmed in Zamzam displacement camp near El Fasher, the wartorn capital of North Darfur. It shelters more than 400,000 displaced people. In total, WFP aims to support up to 8.4 million people by the end of the year.
Sudan’s war, which erupted 16 months ago between rival militaries the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, has ravaged food production, destroyed essential markets and cut off communities from assistance.
Along with heavy fighting, the continuing rainy season has already caused major setbacks in delivering assistance, with flooded roads halting aid convoys.
“More than 50 trucks carrying an estimated 4,800 metric tons of food and nutrition assistance, enough for around half a million people, are stuck in various locations across Sudan and unable to move toward their final destinations due to flooded and impassable roads,” said WFP’s Ms. Kinzli, who insisted that humanitarian agencies urgently needed to “see the actual opening of (Adre) materialize and see trucks moving across the border as soon as possible”.
Hunger’s lasting impact
Echoing that message, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted the immediate and lasting effects of poor nutrition and acute food insecurity among vulnerable people.
WHO spokesperson Dr Margaret Harris told journalists in Geneva that a mild infection in a malnourished person with a weakened immune system can easily turn into a catastrophic illness. Children in particular can die very quickly from what might be a minor infection, she said, adding that after 16 months of heavy fighting, Sudan was poorly equipped to provide lifesaving medical care, with up to 80 per cent of hospitals “non-functional”. She added: “People are dying simply from a lack of access to basic and essential health care medication. We are seeing reports of cholera, measles, malaria, dengue and meningitis from several states.”
Preventable tragedy
The development comes amid ongoing conflict including a bombing attack on Wednesday that devastated a school and market in the city of El Obeid, leaving five girls dead and 20 children injured.
The UN migration agency IOM has also warned that Sudan is at “breaking point” and that there will be tens of thousands of preventable deaths from hunger, disease, floods and violence in the coming months without a larger global response. According to IOM, more than 10.7 million people are seeking safety within the country and many have been displaced twice or more times. Almost all internally displaced persons across Sudan – 97 per cent – are in localities with acute levels of food insecurity or worse.
ends
Story: “Sudan hunger – WFP, WHO” – 16 August 2024
Speakers:
TRT: 02’28”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 16 August 2024 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Geneva Press briefing
SHOTLIST
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Gaza: Hospitals continue to overflow with people injured while seeking food - WHO
As besieged Palestinian civilians face widespread malnutrition and starvation, hospitals in the Strip are increasingly overwhelmed by the influx of victims of shootings and other injuries at food distribution areas, warns the World Health Organization.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , WHO , UNMAS
Urgent help is needed to halt a deadly cholera outbreak that is sweeping across Sudan, UN agencies said on Friday, while warning that communities continue to be terrorized by parties to the conflict even as they flee violence.
2
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News , Images | UNEP
Negotiations got under way at UN Geneva on Tuesday to agree on a legally binding treaty to curb plastic pollution, with delegates from nearly 180 countries attending.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Gaza: Hundreds of trucks per day of free aid needed “for months”, in addition to commercial supplies - OCHA
Despite the tactical pauses Israel introduced last week to allow some safe passage for humanitarian convoys, the amount of aid that has entered Gaza remains by far insufficient for the starving population, and UN trucks continue to face impediments on their way to delivering aid.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
Aid agencies echoed wider warnings of growing signs of widespread starvation in Gaza on Tuesday, as UN-partnered international food security experts released their most dire assessment yet of the situation in the wartorn enclave.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNDP , UNHCR
Sudan: urgent help needed as more than 1.3 million war-displaced people begin to return home
As conflict rages on across parts of Sudan, pockets of relative safety have emerged in the past four month, spurring more than one million internally displaced Sudanese to make their way home, says the International Organization for Migration (IOM). A further 320,000 cross-border refugees have come back to Sudan since last year, mainly from Egypt and South Sudan, to assess the current situation before deciding to return to their country for good.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , WHO
Gaza: SOS messages describe people fainting from hunger; UN health worker detained
Worrying alerts from United Nations staff in Gaza who have been fainting from hunger and exhaustion over the past 48 hours have increased fears for people’s survival in the devastated enclave, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , UNOG
Over 11.6 million refugees risk losing aid access due to funding cuts, says UNHCR
Approximately one in three refugees and other vulnerable individuals normally supported by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) are expected to lose out from funding cuts, it said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, made the following announcement on the Office’s opening of a new mission in Bangladesh.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
“The surge in the number of Afghans forced or compelled to return to Afghanistan this year is creating a multi-layered human rights crisis requiring the urgent attention of the international community,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday called for accountability and justice for the killings and other gross human rights violations and abuses in the southern city of Suweida.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNHCR
Syria: hundreds killed in Sweida, ‘widespread’ violations as civilians flee for their lives
Amid violent clashes in southern Syria’s Sweida governorate, a picture of grave human rights abuses and rising humanitarian needs is emerging by the hour, the UN said on Friday.