News

WFP Warns of Severe Cutbacks and a New Wave of Displacement in Sudan

moatinoon
The World Food Programme warned Friday that Sudan could face a new surge of displacement as fighting intensifies across Darfur and Kordofan, while aid groups struggle with shrinking resources and communities edge closer to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.

Ross Smith, the WFP’s Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response, told reporters in Geneva — speaking remotely from Rome — that between 70,000 and 100,000 people remain trapped inside the city of El Fasher under a near-total communications blackout.

Satellite imagery and survivor accounts, he said, depict “a burned-out city, bodies left in the streets, and markets reduced to ashes,” with no signs that supply routes have reopened or that food assistance is entering the city.

Smith noted that the agency currently has no remaining humanitarian partners on the ground in El Fasher and no verified reports that community kitchens are still operating.

“Leaving the city has become incredibly dangerous,” he said, citing widespread looting, armed robbery, sexual violence against women, and the presence of mines and unexploded ordnance on surrounding roads.

Tawila, Now the Size of a Major City, Strains Under Massive Displacement

The WFP said that more than 650,000 displaced people have sought refuge in Tawila, a once-small desert town about 68 kilometers west of El Fasher — now transformed into one of the largest displacement hubs in Sudan.

Most families arrived from the Zamzam camp during the April 2025 assaults, with new waves fleeing El Fasher after the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized control of the city in October.

The conditions, Smith said, are “severely overcrowded,” with little shelter, widespread cholera, and virtually no functioning health or sanitation services. Aid convoys face continual danger. One WFP truck was hit by a strike last week, seriously injuring the driver before he was later released from the hospital. The attack, Smith added, “underscores the extreme risks humanitarian workers face every day.”

The agency managed to assist around half a million people in Tawila in November, and consistently reaches two million people a month across Darfur.

Rising Violence in Kordofan Raises Fears of Another El Fasher

WFP officials expressed “deep concern” over escalating violence in South Kordofan, particularly in the city of Kadugli, warning that the devastation seen in El Fasher could be repeated.

Frontlines continue to shift toward populated areas, prompting thousands more families to flee as humanitarian resources reach their limits.

Impending Pipeline Collapse and Drastic Food Cuts

The WFP sounded the alarm over looming “catastrophic breaks” in supply pipelines unless urgent funding arrives.

Beginning in January 2026, the agency will reduce food rations to 70 percent in areas experiencing famine and 50 percent in areas at risk — “the minimum needed for survival,” the agency said. Even with these cuts, available funding will sustain only four more months of current operations.

The WFP requires 695 million over the next six months to keep assistance flowing.

Despite these constraints, Smith stressed that the agency remains “ready to move immediately” into El Fasher as soon as safe corridors are secured. “The food is in place, the trucks are ready,” he said. “But time is running out, and the suffering is deepening.”