WFP chief urges end to Sudan war as famine spreads
Luke Lindberg, on his first field mission, says funding cuts have left 900,000 people without food aid and warns hunger is worsening.
The new executive director of the United Nations' World Food Programme, Luke J. Lindberg, called for an end to Sudan's war, warning during a visit to the country that funding cuts have left about 900,000 people without food aid as famine spreads.
Africanews reported that Lindberg visited the Goz Al-Salam camp for internally displaced people during what the UN News account described as his first field mission to Sudan. He urged more financial support so the agency could expand its operations.
The UN says about 34 million people in Sudan, nearly two out of every three residents, need humanitarian assistance, making the war the world's largest humanitarian crisis.
The WFP said it was providing food to 4 million people in Sudan in August, including 880,000 in areas at risk of famine, the UN News account carried by AllAfrica reported. Funding constraints then forced the agency to scale back. It now reaches just over 3 million people, and an estimated 900,000 have lost food assistance.
Sudan's war began in April 2023, when tensions between the military and the Rapid Support Forces erupted into fighting in the capital, Khartoum, before spreading across the country. AllAfrica's account said hundreds of thousands have been killed since then, while Africanews reported that hundreds of thousands of people are facing famine.
The UN has voiced concern about drone attacks carried out by both rival forces, saying they have killed civilians, including children, and disrupted essential services. Insecurity, blocked roads and flood damage are also hampering aid deliveries, the UN News account said.
Lindberg said peace and food are linked. "In the simplest of terms, peace opens the door to food while conflict opens the door to hunger," he said, according to UN News. He warned that people facing acute hunger have "three unfortunate choices: rebel, migrate or starve."
The agency is seeking $520 million to provide food and nutrition assistance to 5.4 million people through April 2027.
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