Sixth humanitarian aid batch sent from Sudan to South Sudan

April 28, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – A sixth humanitarian relief caravan including 1068 tonnes of sorghum Friday has been dispatched from the capital of Sudan’s North Kordofan state, El Obeid to the needy population in South Sudan, said a Sudanese humanitarian official.

Humanitarian aid commissioner Ahmed Babiker al-Hassan has told the official news agency SUNA that the higher and regional committees to deliver the food aid to the affected civilians in South Sudan are working hard to transport the assistance prior to the rainy season.

He pointed that the fifth batch of the relief included 807 tonnes, saying the rugged roads hinder the flow of food assistance to South Sudan.

In February, three United Nations agencies declared an outbreak of localised famine in several areas in the young nation, saying an additional one million people were on the brink of starvation.

On 30 March, the World Food Programme (WFP) began providing food aid to South Sudan using a new corridor opened by Sudan. The new route enables transport of food items overland from El Obeid in central Sudan to Bentiu in South Sudan’s Unity state.

In July 2014, Juba and Khartoum signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to open a humanitarian corridor to deliver food assistance to vulnerable South Sudanese through the River Nile or by road. Last January, the agreement was extended for a six month period.

Earlier this month, Sudan said it doesn’t rule out to open an Airbridge to deliver food assistance to South Sudan during the rainy season revealing a proposal to open a third road corridor to transport aid to the needy population in the war-torn nation.

South Sudan became the world’s newest nation after declaring independence from Sudan in 2011. However, in 2013 the country was plunged into civil war.

(ST)