WFP chief: Sudan looting is ‘stealing from the hungry – food for 4.4 million people at stake’

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has confirmed that its warehouses in El Obeid, capital on North Kordofan in Sudan, came under attack and were looted today. The WFP chief calls the looting ‘unconscionable’.

In an emphatic statement on social media, WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain, has lashed-out strongly, condemning the looting of WFP food and assets from the organisation’s warehouses in El Obeid today.

“Food for 4.4 million people is at stake. It is unconscionable to steal from the hungry. This must stop,” McCain says.

The director points out that “El Obeid is one of WFP’s largest logistic bases in Africa, and is a vital lifeline to millions across Sudan and South Sudan.

Deepening humanitarian crisis

As reported by Radio Dabanga in mid-May, Sudan’s deepening humanitarian crisis as a result of the ongoing clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is being met head on by the WFP, who say they aim to assist 4.9 million vulnerable people in Sudan”.

According to a statement by the organisation on May 14, the WFP is “rapidly scaling up” their emergency operations across the states of White Nile, Red Sea, El Gedaref, Kassala, El Gezira, as well as both North and East Darfur. They added that they hope to resume aid activity in Blue Nile state and Central Darfur “as soon as the security situation allows”. The WFP’s Regional Director for Eastern Africa, Michael Dunford, said that the UN body’s work is “delivering life-saving assistance” for the millions impacted by the devastating SAF-RSF conflict. He adds that the crisis has upended the lives and livelihoods of so many in Sudan, stating it has forced people to flee their homes with nothing but the clothes they are wearing.