People already displaced by conflict, rest by tents at a makeshift campsite they were evacuated to following deadly floods in the eastern city of Kassala on August 11, 2024. Every year in Sudan, sasonal peak flow on the Nile is accompanied by torrential rains, destroying homes, wrecking infrastructure and claiming lives. But the impact is expected to be worse this year after nearly 16 months of fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that has pushed millions of displaced people into flood zones. (Photo by AFP)
Geneva: The UN said Friday it was ready to start delivering food into war-torn Sudan's western Darfur region after the government decided to reopen the crucial Adre border crossing with Chad.
The months-long closure of the crossing has been a major concern for humanitarian organisations struggling to get food and supplies into Darfur as the conflict rages on.
War erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese army under the country's de facto ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
The conflict has unleashed one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
More than 25 million people across the country -- more than half its population -- face acute hunger. Famine has been declared in a Darfur displacement camp.
The UN's World Food Programme welcomed the news on Adre and called for every possible border crossing to open, saying it was in a race against time to save lives in Sudan.
"The opening of this critical humanitarian corridor through Adre will enable us to deliver aid into Sudan's conflict-raddled Darfur region, where famine was confirmed just two weeks ago,"
WFP's Sudan spokeswoman Leni Kinzli told a media briefing, via video-link from Nairobi.
"WFP is immediately mobilising vital food and nutrition supplies to be transported across the Adre corridor over the coming weeks. We need to see trucks moving across this border every single day.
"WFP urgently needs all other border crossings into Sudan to open," she added.
She said two convoys with nearly 6,000 metric tonnes of food for around half a million people were being loaded, destined for areas at risk of famine in Darfur, as soon as government clearance was received.
Tine, the only other crossing from Chad into Sudan, has been largely impassable for nearly a month due to floods. Thirty WFP trucks have been unable to cross into Darfur.
More than 50 WFP trucks with around 4,800 metric tonnes of food and nutrition aid are also stuck in locations across Sudan due to the flooding.
