Food deliveries have resumed to Sudan’s famine-threatened Darfur region following the reopening of a key border crossing by Sudanese authorities.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced that the first convoy of trucks carrying essential food supplies has arrived in Darfur from neighboring Chad.
The supplies are intended for 13,000 people in Kereneik, Darfur, who are facing an imminent risk of famine.
WFP has food and nutrition supplies for around 500,000 people ready to be distributed through the newly reopened route.
The Adre crossing, the most direct route for delivering aid to Darfur from Chad, allows trucks to reach key distribution points within a day.
During the border’s closure, WFP relied on longer, more dangerous routes that navigated conflict zones controlled by various militia groups.
Last week, the Sudanese government agreed to open key border crossings for humanitarian aid amid international pressure.
The Sovereign Council announced the reopening of the Adre crossing on the country’s border with Chad, which had been closed in February by the Sudanese army.
Over 10 million people have been displaced, and at least 18,000 have been killed since the civil war broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
More than half of the country’s population now faces acute hunger.
