Statement on the looting of humanitarian warehouses in Sudan
ROME – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) strongly condemns the looting of one of the agency’s logistics hubs in south-central Sudan. The attack on WFP’s warehouses in El Obeid puts food assistance for 4.4 million conflict-affected people at risk.
WFP is working around the clock to scale up our operations in Sudan to reach millions who have been plunged into uncertainty and hunger by the outbreak of violence in mid-April. This theft of humanitarian food and assets totally undermines these operations at a critical time for the people of Sudan. This must stop.
El Obeid hosts one of WFP’s largest logistics bases on the African continent and serves as a vital lifeline for operations in Sudan and South Sudan. Millions will be impacted by this attack. Initial reports suggest that food and nutrition supplies, as well as vehicles, fuel and generators have been looted in this incident.
This is not the first time that food and humanitarian assets belonging to WFP and our partners have been attacked and looted. WFP alone has so far recorded losses estimated at more than US$60 million since violence broke out on April 15.
WFP reiterates calls to all parties to the conflict to ensure the safety and security of humanitarian assistance, aid workers and assets so that our life-saving work can move forward.
An estimated 2 - 2.5 million people in Sudan are expected to slip into hunger in the coming months because of the ongoing violence. This would take acute food insecurity in Sudan to record levels, with more than 19 million people affected, 40 percent of the population.
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The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.
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