More than a Dozen Aid Trucks Cross into Famine-hit Sudan: UN

In a breakthrough, more than a dozen aid trucks, including from two UN agencies, have crossed into Sudan's Darfur region from Chad, UN humanitarians said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Wednesday said trucks from the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) were among the dozen vehicles allowed across the key Adre crossing, reports Xinhua news agency.

OCHA said the crossing is the most effective and direct cross-border route to deliver humanitarian assistance to Sudan at the scale and speed required to respond to the enormous hunger crisis in the country. WFP reported that trucks could cross into Darfur via Adre and reach key distribution points the same day.

"It is critical to sustain the flow of food and nutrition assistance into and across Sudan, where more than a dozen areas are either in or at risk of famine," the office said. "WFP is scaling up food assistance there and aims to support more than 8 million people by the end of the year."

OCHA said WFP reported its trucks carried sorghum, pulses, oil and rice for 13,000 people at risk of famine in Kereneik, West Darfur, and IOM reported the essential relief items it delivered to Sudan will support more than 12,000 people in need.

The humanitarian office said it continues to engage with the Sudanese authorities to facilitate additional trucks in the coming days and months.

The Famine Review Committee, known as the IPC, on August 1 confirmed famine in Zamzam camp sheltering hundreds of thousands of displaced people in North Darfur. It blamed the famine on the civil war in Sudan, displacement and humanitarian access constraints.