Claims of aid items stored in Sudan warehouses not distributed yet

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The number of people from the Sudanese capital seeking refuge in White Nile state is still increasing. People claim that aid arrived two months ago but has not been distributed yet. 

White Nile state, where according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) 246,000 people fled to, is still receiving newly displaced each day.

The number of shelters in the state has risen to 47 within a short time, Emad Salem, a member of the White Nile Emergency Room, told Radio Dabanga.

“We need more shelters, as large numbers of people now sheltering in ordinary homes are becoming a too heavy burden on their hosts,” he said. “The 47 current shelters are very crowded, especially the 32 shelters set up in Kosti.”

According to journalist El Nour Abdallah who returned to White Nile state from Omdurman last week, “no displaced person in White Nile state has received aid so far”.

Mustafa Adam, Director of the Sudanese El Zarga Organisation, confirmed the dire humanitarian situation of the displaced in White Nile state.

“In particular the state capital Rabak and Kosti are hosting thousands of people from Khartoum, while new displaced are still arriving.”

He explained that “Their suffering is exacerbated due to acute shortages of humanitarian aid and medical services, while the warehouses of the state Ministry of Finance and the governmental Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) are filled with humanitarian aid items that arrived two months ago.”

Adam called on “the concerned authorities” to distribute the aid items to the needy before the Eid El Adha [Muslim Feast of the Sacrifice] that begins tomorrow. 

The problem is not confined to White Nile state but surfaced in Rabak because of the large numbers of displaced living rough in the area, he said, and attributed the storage of the aid items in warehouses to a political conflict among the authorities in terms of reference of the work of HAC and the White Nile Emergency Committee.

“The Emergency Committee must have clear powers and mechanisms in dealing with this aid, while HAC is the party responsible for the donated aid and its distribution to the beneficiaries.”

In February, Sudan’s National Commission for Human Rights expressed deep concern over the measures the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) has taken against a number of civil society organisations. The HR Commission blamed HAC for impeding the freedom of civil society work, by refusing to register or re-register NGOs and grassroots organisations.

Medical supplies

The acting Federal Minister of Health, Haisam Ibrahim, said on Sunday that Kuwaiti aid has covered the shortage of surgical inputs and kidney failure medicines in Sudan for a great deal.

In a press statement issued by his ministry from Port Sudan, where the government has been moved to, he called for “continued support from Kuwait, especially concerning medicines for patients suffering from cancer and from chronic diseases, anaesthesia, laboratory solutions, and public health supplies to combat epidemics and diseases”.

Ibrahim pointed to the severe damage caused to the health system in Sudan by the war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), especially in Khartoum and Darfur.

He pointed out that the main challenges facing the health sector in Sudan are the security situation and the instability of the banking system. “With the start of the rainy season, an urgent need for health support will appear concerning water-borne diseases such as malaria and haemorrhagic fever.

The authorities in El Obeid announced on Sunday that they had received a convoy carrying medical supplies from White Nile state the day before.

Agricultural needs

The number of people who fled their homes because of the ongoing war in Sudan has risen to 2.56 million, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) stated five days ago.

Last week as well, Fayez El Seleik, who was press advisor to former Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, emphasised the importance of establishing safe corridors to ensure the delivery of aid to eligible recipients.

He called for aid to be directed towards supporting the current agricultural season in conflict-free areas such as El Gezira, Sennar, and El Gedaref.

In mid-May, the UN World Food Programme began rapidly scaling up its emergency operations across El Gezira, White Nile state, Red Sea state, Kassala, El Gedaref, and North and East Darfur.