Hemeti: New school feeding programme to benefit 400,000 students in Sudan

The Vice President of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council and Commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Lt Gen Mohamed ‘Hemeti’ Dagalo, has announced a programme of school feeding that will benefit 400,000 students in its first phase.

Addressing the Sudanese School Feeding Initiative, Hemeti he called on all states of Sudan to redouble efforts to take advantage of opportunities to bring the country and citizens out of poverty towards production and economic wellbeing. He said that “the magnitude of the major political, economic, and social challenges that Sudan is facing require unity, social cohesion and helping each other”.

He also called for the immediate start of preparing for a major national project in order to ensure a better future for our children.

He explained that the first phase of the project targets about 400,000 students in the basic, intermediate, and secondary stages. “We will endeavour to transform the school feeding programmes into sustainable national programmes and integrate it into national policies which lean to the vulnerable categories,’ Hemeti said.

As previously reported by Radio Dabanga, according to a recent report published by the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET), Sudan’s growing acute food insecurity, recent flooding, and mass displacement as a result of intercommunal conflict, have led to Sudan being classified as a country in ‘crisis’. FEWS NET stated that September’s staple food prices remain 250-300 per cent above respective prices last year, and 550-700 per cent above the five-year average.

Starvation

Working Sudanese are unable to make ends meet, and reports of deaths from starvation have been emerging Sudan in recent months, highlighting a growing food emergency that is spreading from rural to urban areas.

Almost 12 million people – a quarter of Sudan’s population – are currently estimated to be facing acute hunger. That number could reach up to 18 million as the ‘lean season’ ends this month, according to aid agencies – double the figure recorded in 2021.