UN says humanitarian conditions are worsening in Sudan's El-Obeid

The United Nations said Friday that the humanitarian situation in El-Obeid in Sudan is worsening rapidly as displacement camps receive more people. The UN has warned for weeks that atrocities similar to those committed during the paramilitary assault on El-Fasher in Darfur in October last year could be repeated in El-Obeid.

The World Food Programme said El-Obeid's population had almost doubled, but that it could feed only a fraction of those in need. Abdallah Alwardat, WFP's Sudan country director, said after visiting the city on Thursday that El-Obeid remained under pressure for food, water and fuel. He said a city of more than 500,000 to 600,000 people had almost doubled in population because internally displaced people were arriving from the wider Kordofan region.

Sudan's war between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces began in April 2023. It has killed 200,000 people by some estimates and displaced more than 11 million. Several parts of Sudan have fallen into hunger and famine. El-Obeid, a strategic hub in southern Kordofan, has been encircled for months by the RSF.

Alwardat said more than 120,000 people were living in camps, while many others were staying with host communities or building their own shelters. WFP has given food assistance to more than 100,000 people in the camps, but Alwardat said many more displaced people in the city urgently needed help. He said reduced rations were being shared by recipients with other families.

WFP said it was positioning food stocks to expand hot meals and food assistance to more than 250,000 people in and around El-Obeid if conditions allowed. Alwardat said the aid brought into the city was the only lifeline for people there, but added that WFP's resources were also stretched.