The World Food Program said it has resumed delivering food for hundreds of thousands of hungry people in Sudan, though humanitarian access remains difficult.
“For many people, food and other supplies are running low,” WFP's Sudan Country Director Eddie Rowe said on Tuesday. “If they are available, they are way beyond the purchasing power of ordinary Sudanese.”
But the United Nations confirmed that at least 17,000 metric tons of food – enough to feed more than half a million people – were pilfered from WFP's compound in Khartoum just in the first few days after Sudan's rival generals began vying for control of the nation last month.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the looting of WFP's main offices in Sudan's capital Khartoum, calling it a violation of humanitarian principles.
"Most if not all United Nations agencies and our humanitarian partners have been impacted by large-scale looting," U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said on Monday on behalf of Guterres' spokesperson on Sudan.
"The needs of the Sudanese people who are caught up in a humanitarian catastrophe must come first," he said.
Haq, however, said the stolen food, worth US$13 million, is probably only a portion of what was actually taken, since a full inventory has yet to be done, but over the past weekend looters mostly stole U.N. office and computer equipment.
The United Nations had pre-positioned about 80,000 metric tons of grain and other food before the fighting broke out in mid-April.
As fighting has lasted for 3 weeks, the humanitarian situation is catastrophic.
— UN OCHA Sudan (@UNOCHA_Sudan) May 7, 2023
Humanitarian organizations are working to expand operations.
Food distributions has restarted in eastern Sudan and response underway in many other areas.
➡️ https://t.co/CYSRTAoj3I pic.twitter.com/8j7Jp9PJnA
Medical aid starts to flow again
After suspending operations in Sudan, WFP again began trying to reach almost 400,000 people who were newly displaced or previously were refugees.
U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and health industry officials on Monday also called for more investment in new vaccines to take on an increase in tuberculosis brought on by COVID-19 and the conflicts in Sudan and Ukraine.
The World Health Organization said it flew in to Sudan some 30 metric tons of essential drugs and supplies for injuries and emergency surgeries with the help of the United Arab Emirates last week.
It said the US$444,000 in supplies for 165,000 people were the first it could deliver by air to Sudan since the conflict broke out. WHO was preparing to fly in 23,000 bags of blood and another 30 metric tons of supplies for malaria and noncommunicable diseases like diabetes and hypertension.
"These relief flights will directly address the most pressing gaps in medical and food provision," said Reem bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy, the UAE's minister of state for international cooperation.
