Food diverted for emergency use

The United Nations has diverted food to Sudan to help bridge the flow of emergency food aid needed for more than three million people. World Food Programme (WFP) spokeswoman Lindsey Davis, told IRIN that food destined for Ethiopia had been diverted to Sudan when the consignment arrived in Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast. She said 23,200 tonnes of maize had been diverted to help 2.4 million war-affected victims in Sudan. “It is really only enough for one month, and it doesn’t solve the problem,” Davis said.

Earlier this year, WFP made an urgent appeal for US $135 million for war- and drought-affected people in northern and southern Sudan. According to Davis, the donor response has been very poor, and recent donations from Japan, Switzerland and the Netherlands will provide only 10,000 tonnes of food aid. “This diversion is an emergency measure, and we have a long way to go,” Davis said. The northern states of Darfur and Kordofan had been hit hard by drought, while in the south, northern Bahr al-Ghazal, eastern Equatoria and Jonglei (north of eastern Equatoria), fighting had exacerbated drought conditions, the agency said.