The lifesaving food aid desperately needed by millions in war-torn Sudan is beginning to reach previously inaccessible areas, but severe logistical and security challenges have caused weeks-long delays, worsening the hunger crisis.

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The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the primary humanitarian aid provider, has managed to deliver food and nutritional supplies to 2.5 million people per month in the past three months, including regions on the brink of famine due to ongoing clashes between government forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Six-Week Delays for Food Convoys

Each humanitarian convoy faces immense uncertainty in reaching its destination safely. A recent WFP convoy of 40 trucks, carrying food to famine-stricken areas in Darfur, highlights these obstacles:

• The convoy entered Sudan in mid-December but was blocked by RSF fighters for nearly three weeks, demanding additional authorizations and inspections.
• Redirected to another famine-affected location in Darfur, the trucks were stopped again by a different RSF unit making new demands.
• After six weeks of delays, the convoy finally reached its destination, despite an initial two-week delivery estimate.

To combat widespread starvation, the WFP planned a large-scale cash assistance and food distribution operation for four million people. However, this initiative faced over a month’s delay due to a severe cash shortage, even affecting wages for transport workers.

In response, Sudan’s Central Bank and Ministry of Finance took measures to increase cash availability, allowing WFP operations to resume.

In under two years, Sudan has become the world’s largest forced displacement crisis, with conflict-driven hunger affecting over 24 million people—half the country’s population.

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