WFP: ‘Grain from Ukraine’ docks in Port Sudan. 7,600 tonnes of flour on trucks for emergency distribution

THIS report brought tears to my eyes. Congrats to all involved. Great work.

World Food Programme (WFP) is working around the clock to urgently deliver critical food assistance to families in Sudan who are struggling with skyrocketing food insecurity, the WFP said in a statement yesterday.

WFP has been warning of a looming hunger catastrophe as the lean season approaches if civilians do not receive food assistance. Currently nearly 18 million people face acute food insecurity in Sudan, of which nearly five million are in emergency levels of hunger (IPC4). Read more.

From Radio Dabanga English
Dated Thursday, 29 February 2024 - here is a copy in full:

WFP: ‘Grain from Ukraine’ docks in Port Sudan

A shipment of 7,600 tonnes of wheat flour, donated by Ukraine to the United Nations World Food Programme’s (WFP) Sudan operation, has arrived in Port Sudan and is being loaded onto WFP trucks, for emergency food distribution (Photo: WFP / Abubaker Garelnabei)

Assigned to be a core part of food rations for one million conflict-affected people in Sudan for one month, a shipment of 7,600 tonnes of emergency food aid donated by Ukraine to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Sudan operation, has arrived in Port Sudan, WFP says. The wheat flour is being loaded onto WFP trucks for emergency food distribution.

As the war raging across the country enters its 10th month, WFP is working around the clock to urgently deliver critical food assistance to families in Sudan who are struggling with skyrocketing food insecurity, the WFP says in a statement issued yesterday.

WFP says that the shipment – part of Ukraine’s humanitarian ‘Grain from Ukraine’ initiative launched by President Zelensky – was made possible by the German Federal Foreign Office, which covered the operating costs of €15 million, including the transportation costs from Ukraine to Sudan, and the implementation and distribution within the country to people in need.

Bags of Wheat flour donated by Ukraine to the United Nations WFP Sudan that have arrived in Port Sudan (Photo: WFP / Abubaker Garelnabei)

“The humanitarian situation in Sudan is catastrophic but we need to act now to stop it from spiralling further out of control,” says Eddie Rowe, WFP’s country director in Sudan. “WFP is working at pace to get food assistance into the hands of families that need it as quickly as possible.”

The 7,600 tonnes of wheat flour will be provided to families, many of whom have fled their homes due to the fighting and are struggling every day to meet their food needs. “This donation has arrived at a critical time in Sudan’s hunger crisis as fighting continues to spread ahead of the lean season in May, when food typically becomes scarcer, and hunger rises,” WFP says.

“This donation will enable WFP to support people whose lives have been completely upended by the war. We are deeply grateful to the Ukraine and Germany for supporting the Sudanese people in their greatest hour of need,” says Rowe.

During a press conference held in the Belgian capital Brussels last week, Rowe pointed out that that “five million people in Sudan cannot afford a square meal a day”.

WFP has been warning of a looming hunger catastrophe as the lean season approaches if civilians do not receive food assistance. Currently nearly 18 million people face acute food insecurity in Sudan, of which nearly five million are in emergency levels of hunger (IPC4). WFP has already provided around seven million people with emergency food and nutrition support since the conflict began last April, yet needs continue to grow.

Logistical challenges

The ongoing humanitarian catastrophe across Sudan is exacerbated by logistical challenges faced by organisations in delivering food and medical aid to those most in need, in light of the conflict, breakdown in security, banditry, and communications blackouts.

New reports suggest that the disruptions to shipping in the Red Sea due to escalating security concerns and attacks on commercial vessels has increased the cost of delivering vital supplies to Sudan by 40 per cent.

As reported by Radio Dabanga yesterday, The Darfur Joint Forces, which withdrew from El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur in November, have now completely stopped securing aid convoys from Port Sudan to El Fasher, due to renewed clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the North Darfur capital.

On February 22, the Darfur Network for Human Rights (DNHR) warned that El Fasher is witnessing “an intricate and dire humanitarian crisis as a violent conflict tightly grips the region”.

International law expert Motasim Ali has commented that “denying the right to humanitarian aid to civilians is considered a crime against humanity”.

Click for video

Bags of Wheat flour donated by Ukraine to the United Nations WFP Sudan offloaded in Port Sudan (Photo: WFP / Abubaker Garelnabei)

Source: https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/wfp-grain-from-ukraine-docks-in-port-sudan

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Sudan: How a tea-seller in Khartoum displaced by conflict led her family away from hunger

Article from World Food Programme (WFP) website
By 2 Mohamed Elamin 
Dated August 2023 - here is a copy in full:

Sudan: How a tea-seller displaced by conflict led her family away from hunger

Support from World Food Programme and its partners is providing families nutrition and security as they plan their next steps

Displaced people receive assistance from WFP and partners at a defunct farm in Wad Medani in Gezira state, Sudan. Photo: OCHA/Ala Kheir

“We fled into the unknown with no destination in mind,” says Awadeya Mahmoud, describing the night in April when the sound of an explosion woke up her family of ten. By dawn, they and the people living near them in their south-Khartoum neighbourhood decided enough was enough, and fled the capital.

A worsening security situation is making it increasingly difficult for the World Food Programme (WFP) to reach the 6.3 million people it intends to this year. Since conflict broke out in the country on 15 April, it has reached 1.5 million with critical supplies, including 40,000 children aged under-5, pregnant and breastfeeding women.

Two days after the bombing, Mahmoud and her children made it to Albageir village in Gezira state.

“The war displaced my whole family and my children never healed from the horror they felt,” she recalls. “They refused to eat or drink. They were just crying.”

Mahmoud recalls her last night in Khartoum and her escape to Madani. Photo: WFP/ Moe Salah

At the time, the family were out of money and had to sell what belongings they could to finance their journey to safety. “I fled my home together with my neighbours to arrive in Albageir [village] before reaching Wad Madani,” says Mahmoud, who leads a cooperative of women caterers, including tea vendors like herself.

“I had to sell [many of] my belongings to be able to take my family to safety,” she says.

Continued fighting in Sudan poses a threat to the current planting season and to farmers who are already struggling to cope with soaring prices of fertilizers and seeds.

When Mahmoud and her neighbours arrived in Madani, 186km from home, finding a place to sleep was extremely difficult. The city was already filled with displaced people from the capital, Khartoum. Luckily, the families she had arrived with found a house to cram into with a total of 37 children. 

People receive rations of flour, vegetable oil, salt, and yellow split beans. Photo: OCHA/Ala Kheir

With basic shelter in place, the problem of hunger persists. A third of Sudan’s population was already food-insecure before the war, according to WFP.

“We seriously suffered, we had a food problem and some of the children suffered from fevers and measles,” says Mahmoud.

She is among 24,606 people that WFP has assisted in Madani through its new hub in the city. 

Using food from WFP, Mahmoud put her skills to work and started cooking for fellow displaced people.

“We are on full stomachs now,” she says of the families who escaped with hers. “I was given flour, oil, and yellow split beans.

People make do in a window-less dilapidated structure on the farm. Photo: OCHA/Ala Kheir

Gezira is among 14 of the 18 states where WFP has assisted people in the past few months, alongside, for the first time, the River Nile and White Nile states. 

While many people have made it safely out of Khartoum, thousands of families remain trapped in conflict areas with no access to food and other basic needs. “My cooperative alone has 150,000 members and I am hoping that WFP will be able to help them,” says Mahmoud.

“What WFP is doing is not easy. It's what we need the most in Sudan because you’re mobilizing food around the world for people,” says Mahmoud.  

“Humanitarian needs have reached record levels and there is still no sign of an end to the conflict,” says Eddie Rowe, WFP’s Country Director for Sudan. 

“WFP is doing everything possible to deliver life-saving assistance to millions of people in Sudan, but insecurity and access constraints are restricting us from reaching more people, especially in Khartoum and West Darfur.”

The conflict has caused severe damage to critical infrastructure nationwide, and access to food, water, cash, fuel, healthcare, and other basic services has been fractured. Moreover, razed and looted markets, broken transport networks and dysfunctional markets have strained food availability.

In West Darfur, the situation is alarming with reports of ethnic violence against civilians. Insecurity is making humanitarian access to Sudan’s most food-insecure state nearly impossible.

WFP urgently requires US$410 million for its operations in Sudan to ensure immediate life-saving assistance to conflict-affected people like Mahmoud and her family.

Learn more about WFP's work in Chad and Sudan click here to DONATE

Sudan’s crisis sends hunger shockwaves across the region

Amid soaring funding needs and displacement, the World Food Programme aims to reach millions of people affected by the conflict with ready-to-eat meals, nutritional support and cash

View original: https://www.wfp.org/stories/sudan-how-tea-seller-displaced-conflict-led-her-family-away-hunger

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