Agencies, November 12 (Darfur24)
The World Food Programme (WFP) has removed about 900,000 vulnerable people from its food assistance lists in recent months because of funding shortages, warning that continued fighting is deepening hunger across Sudan.
WFP Executive Director Luc Lindberg called for an urgent end to the war during his first field visit to Sudan since taking office, urging international and Sudanese leaders to take responsibility for ending the conflict.
In remarks published by the agency, Lindberg warned that families facing acute hunger were being pushed towards desperate choices, including fleeing their homes or risking starvation.
He said WFP could not address the crisis alone, adding that humanitarian agencies could not provide enough food to sustain people through an ongoing war.
The agency said it assisted more than four million people in August, including 880,000 in areas at risk of famine. However, funding constraints forced it to begin reducing the number of beneficiaries in September.
During his visit, Lindberg met displaced families struggling to feed their children and visited emergency feeding centres in displacement camps and a school meals programme.
He said WFP was ready to expand its assistance if additional funding became available, stressing that peace was essential to ending hunger.
The agency estimates it needs approximately $520 million to provide life-saving food and nutrition assistance to 5.4 million people in Sudan through April 2027.
Sudan has been facing one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises since war erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in April 2023, triggering mass displacement and widespread food insecurity.
