Geneva-

Sudan’s war threatens to trigger the world’s worst hunger crisis, the World Food Program said on Friday, warning it had finally succeeded in delivering much-needed food to war-torn Darfur for the first time in months. assistance.

The United Nations food agency said two convoys crossed the border from Chad into Darfur late last week to deliver food and nutritional aid to about 250,000 people in northern, western and central Darfur.

The long-delayed mission was approved after lengthy negotiations to reopen the convoy route after the Sudanese Armed Forces revoked permission for a humanitarian corridor in Chad in February.

“Cross-border operations from Chad to Darfur are critical to reaching communities where children are already dying from malnutrition,” said Leni Kinzli, WFP communications officer in Sudan.

Speaking in Nairobi, Kenya, she said: “All corridors transporting food must remain open, especially from [the city of] From Adre in Chad to Western Darfur, the levels of hunger are shocking. “

She expressed relief that lengthy negotiations to reopen the route had come to fruition, but warned that unless the Sudanese people received a steady stream of aid through all possible humanitarian corridors, “the scourge of hunger in the country will only worsen.”

The United Nations says more than 8.5 million people have been displaced, 6.5 million of them within the country, since rival Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces plunged the country into war nearly a year ago.

The World Food Program says 18 million people face severe hunger, 90% of whom live in remote areas. The World Health Organization’s public health situation analysis of the conflict in Sudan found that a record 24.8 million people (almost everyone else) will need emergency humanitarian assistance by 2024.

WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris said: “This is an increase of 9 million from 2023. It shows how catastrophic this is.”

“People have been forced to flee their homes due to the humanitarian situation and the destruction of vital infrastructure such as roads, hospitals, medical facilities and schools.

“In addition, electricity, water, communication services, everything — all the infrastructure needed for normal life” was destroyed, she said.

The World Health Organization said at least 14,600 people died and 33,000 were injured. Two-thirds of the population lack access to health services, the report said, noting that outbreaks of diseases such as cholera, measles, malaria, poliovirus type 2 and dengue are increasing.

“Food insecurity is also at record highs, with nearly half of children severely malnourished,” the World Health Organization said, stressing that “urgent action is needed to prevent further disasters.”

WFP’s Kinzley said it was crucial to get aid to Darfur’s poor quickly and easily, either through the Tiné crossing or along conflict lines in Sudan.

However, she said “intense fighting, lack of security and lengthy clearances from warring parties” had led to delays in aid distribution. She noted that it was impossible for aid workers to help “people trapped in conflict hotspots in Sudan.”

“WFP needs to provide assistance to war-torn communities through all possible means,” Kinzley said. He warned that hunger in Sudan would worsen as the lean season begins, the first of a year. The period when grain stocks were at their lowest.

“Our greatest fear is that during this lean season we will see unprecedented levels of hunger and malnutrition sweeping across Sudan, with Darfur being hit particularly hard.”

She noted that crop yields are at an all-time low as fighting prevents farmers from harvesting crops.

“Recent crop reports show that this year’s cereal harvest in Darfur is 78 percent below the five-year average,” she said. “That is why WFP is deeply concerned about how serious the hunger crisis will become during this lean season.”

Kinzley expressed deep concern that the off-season, which typically runs from May to September, could begin as early as next week and last much longer than usual.