ALBAWABA - In a post on X, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced that after the reopening of borders, an aid convoy coming from Chad has entered Sudan and is en route to Darfur.
WFP trucks carrying sorghum, beans, oil, and rice intended for 13,000 people in danger of starvation in Kereneik, West Darfur, passed on Tuesday evening. WFP has food and nutrition supplies for around 500,000 people ready to transport quickly over the newly reopened route.
The Adre crossing into Chad is the most efficient and direct route for delivering humanitarian aid into Sudan, particularly the Darfur region, at the scale and velocity necessary to address the massive food crisis.
Trucks will be entering Darfur from Adre and arriving at crucial distribution sites the same day. Since Adre's formal shutdown in February, WFP has been able to operate two convoys over the crossing: one in March and one in April.
However, to reach towns in Darfur, WFP has taken the lengthier route through Chad's Tine border into North Darfur and long, difficult routes from Port Sudan that straddle fighting frontlines and pass through territories controlled by several armed groups.
Commenting on the reopening of the borders, WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain stated: "The reopening of the Adre crossing is critical for the effort to prevent famine from spreading across Sudan, and it must now stay in use. I want to acknowledge all parties for taking this vital step to help WFP get lifesaving aid to millions of people in desperate need,".
"We urgently need to reach every corner of Sudan with food assistance – and this requires humanitarian corridors and all border crossings to be open so aid agencies can bring in supplies every single day. This is the only way to avoid widespread starvation," McCain added.
