Sudan: After ten months of blockade, a UNICEF convoy reaches South Kordofan
Port Sudan, Sudan (PANA) - For nearly a year, the people of Sudan's South Kordofan region have been isolated, besieged by fighting, and deprived of food. But on Sunday, 24 August, a UNICEF humanitarian convoy finally crossed the border into this southern region, which borders South Sudan.
More than 120,000 people will benefit from this delivery, the first of this scale since October 2024. "This convoy is a lifeline for the children of South Kordofan who have endured hunger, fear and uncertainty for too long," said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF's country's representative.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been ravaged by civil war between the army of General Abdel Fattah Al-Bourhane and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, known as "Hemetti".
In South Kordofan, more than 63,000 children suffer from acute malnutrition, including 10,000 with its most severe, often fatal form.
The convoy, which arrived at the weekend in Dilling and Kadugli, carried more than 6,000 cartons of ready-to-use therapeutic food—enough to cover the needs of the local population for six months. Water and sanitation equipment, including pumps and generators, as well as medical and educational materials, completed the shipment, according to UN News.
But the aid remains paltry compared to the scale of the needs. "One convoy is not enough. Without sustained humanitarian access, many children will simply not survive," Yett warned.
More than 70 percent of South Kordofan's water and sanitation infrastructure is out of service. In these conditions, every repaired pump can mean the difference between life and death.
While aid is trying to break Kordofan's isolation, the west of the country is sinking further into violence.
Between 19 and 20 August, nearly a thousand people fled the Abu Shouk camp, near El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. Controlled by Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the town has been under siege by the RSF for over a year.
According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the displaced people have taken refuge in other neighbourhoods, where "the situation remains tense and highly unstable".
On 22 August 22, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that approximately 90 civilians had been killed by the RSF in the area over the past two weeks, including about 15 summarily executed in Abu Shouk. The majority of the victims in the camp belonged to the Zaghawa tribe, raising fears of communal unrest.
In recent days, in Wad Al-Hajam, further south, more than 400 residents have been forced to abandon their homes following an intercommunal conflict over livestock. These displaced people have retreated to other villages, further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in a region bled dry and affected by famine since last year.
-0- PANA MA 26Aug2025
