Trucks carry 100 metric tons of food relief from Chad to famine-risk Sudan communities: UN

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) — Trucks using the recently opened Adre crossing from Chad carried 100 metric tons of food aid into Sudan on Friday for the most famine-risk communities, a UN spokesman said.
“The World Food Programme (WFP) transported over 1,500 metric tons of vital food and nutrition supplies, enough for nearly 130,000 people since the crossing reopened on Aug. 20,” said Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who added that some assistance was delivered to Mornei, an area in West Darfur at famine risk.
Dujarric said more than 22,000 people in Mornei received emergency food rations, and nearly 4,800 children and pregnant and nursing women received nutritional supplements. The rest of the relief headed to other West Darfur communities at risk of famine and in the Kereneik and Sirba areas.
“The convoys’ progress, however, has been slowed by flooded and muddy roads as the peak of the rainy season approaches,” the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported the world body’s acting relief chief, Joyce Msuya, released 10 million U.S. dollars from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support aid efforts in South Sudan facing massive floods with more than 700,000 people impacted.
Dujarric said floods since May have damaged homes, crops, and critical infrastructure and severely disrupted education and health services.
“Our partners report rising malaria cases, respiratory tract infections, acute watery diarrhea, and snakebites since the onset of the rainy season,” he said. “The new funds will support life-saving assistance in the most affected counties that are home to some 900,000 people in need of emergency aid and this figure is likely to increase with the floods.”
The spokesman said flooding compounds the already difficult humanitarian situation in South Sudan.
“In June, we and the Government of South Sudan launched a flood preparedness and response plan and for that we are seeking 264 million U.S. dollars to support 2.4 million human beings,” Dujarric said. “That plan has yet to receive any funding.”
The spokesman also said Msuya on Friday allocated 1 million dollars from CERF to mitigate the worst impacts of a locust infestation in Madagascar. More than 1.2 million people are already facing high food insecurity in the country.
“Even without the locust infection, we fear that hunger will increase during the lean season which gets underway in October,” he said. “The FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) is working with the Ministry of Agriculture in Madagascar to respond to the infestation. The new allocation from CERF will allow for an additional 80,000 hectares of land to be treated, benefitting some 300,000 people.” ■