from RAJI BASHIR in Khartoum, Sudan
KHARTOUM, (CAJ News) – THE looting of supplies from a World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse in North Darfur will exacerbate a dire situation in Sudan.
Unknown armed groups looted the facility in El Fasher, North Darfur on Tuesday evening.
This incident follows the looting and reported violence around the former United Nations peacekeepers’ base, also in El Fasher, last week.
The WFP base contained up to 1 900 metric tonnes of food, meant for hundreds of thousands of food-insecure people in that area.
This comes amid unprecedented funding shortfalls for WFP, estimated at US$358 million.
Khardiata Lo N’diaye, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, expressed concern about the attack.
“This was food assistance meant for Sudan’s most vulnerable people. Humanitarian assistance should never be a target,” the envoy said.
One in three people in Sudan need humanitarian assistance.
“Such an attack severely impedes our ability to deliver to the people who need it the most,” N’diaye stated.
“We urgently ask all parties to adhere to humanitarian principles and allow the safe delivery of life-saving assistance.”
An estimated 14.3 million people in Sudan are need humanitarian assistance according to the 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan, of which 25 percent require food security and livelihoods support.
– CAJ News