An aid convoy has reached a besieged area of Khartoum for the first time since Sudan’s civil war broke out in April 2023, bringing food and medicines in a country where half of the people are at risk of starvation.
The 28 trucks arrived in southern Khartoum on 25 December, according to the World Food Programme (WFP), which provided 22 trucks loaded with 750 tonnes of food.
Unicef sent five trucks with medicines and malnutrition kits for children, while Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) contributed one truck of medical supplies, according to the Khartoum State Emergency Response Room (ERR), a grassroots aid group that is helping to coordinate the distribution.
Sheldon Yett, Unicef’s Sudan representative, said: “Access to the area has been essentially cut off due the conflict dynamics. It took three months of often daily negotiations with government authorities at all levels and with other parties who controlled the access.
“The trucks were detained on more than one occasion and drivers were understandably reluctant given the risks involved. The difficulty we had in delivering these supplies for children is just one illustration of how difficult it can be to reach the most vulnerable populations in Sudan with lifesaving supplies.”
Sudan’s armed forces have been fighting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia since April 2023, when a power struggle between the two factions of the military regime broke out into open conflict.
Both sides have been accused of committing war crimes, which they deny. Several rounds of attempted negotiations have so far failed to end the fighting.
More than 12 million people have been displaced by the war, while tens of thousands have been killed. Five areas of the country are suffering from famine, while almost half of Sudan’s 50 million population have so little to eat that their lives are at risk.
The aid convoy reaching Jebel Aulia, south of Khartoum, and the Al Bashayer hospital in the city was cause for hope for some humanitarian workers.
Duaa Tariq, who works with the ERR, told the BBC: “There were tears, tears of laughter and joy, and tears of a lot of effort and exhaustion from arranging this. It was quite a moment for everyone.”
Tariq said she hoped there would be more aid to come: “It was such an emotional rollercoaster.”
Others cautioned that Sudan’s needs far outstripped what one convoy could provide.
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Claire San Filippo, the MSF emergency coordinator for Sudan, said: “You have staggering needs on the one hand. And, on the other hand, you have an underwhelming humanitarian response and massive obstacles [put in place] by the warring parties.
“Since the beginning of the conflict, what we’ve seen is a real pattern by the warring parties to deliberately block, divert or restrict access to life-saving aid. This is absolutely wonderful that there was a convoy, but many are more needed.”
On 18 December, RSF fighters stormed into the Al Bashayer hospital, firing weapons in the emergency ward, according to MSF. No one was injured or killed, but the incursion followed the killing by armed fighters of a patient receiving treatment on 11 November.
Food distribution to an estimated 78,000 people will start on 29 December, a spokesperson for WFP said, noting that this was the first time since the start of the conflict that Mayo and Alingaz, in the Jebel Aulia area, had received food aid.
“Both Mayo and Alingaz are ‘risk of famine’ areas. Jebel Aulia has endured intense fighting through the conflict,” the spokesperson said. “WFP has been tirelessly working to gain access to all parts of Khartoum, taking advantage of brief lulls in fighting to deliver food aid while also supporting the community-run Emergency Response Rooms to deliver daily hot meals.”
