"We have partners on the ground who helped us
get food quickly to those who need our assistance," said Amer Daoudi,
the WFP Sudan Regional Director.
The agency said it had delivered food assistance to more than 25,000
displaced people in Warrap state, where the former Abyei residents have
sought safety, with each one of the internally displaced persons (IDPs)
receiving a month's ration. Some 2,800 people who went to Western Bahr
el-Ghazal state also received food rations.
Food assistance has also reached an estimated 18,000 people in the
Abyei area where WFP operations were disrupted by the conflict between
the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) from the north and the Sudan People's
Liberation Army (SPLA) from the south.
WFP said it is working with NGO partners, including the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to locate and assist those who have
fled into remote villages. The agency is also working with the charity
Samaritan's Purse, which has offered tractors and trucks to help move
food around Twic county and into Agok.
WFP plans to send 2,000 tons of cereals, pulses and salt to Wunrok in
the Twic county of Warrap state, where WFP has set up a response base.
On Tuesday a convoy of 23 trucks carrying almost half of that
consignment left El Obeid in Northern Kordofan state headed for Wunrok.
"As soon as the security situation allows, WFP will conduct a rapid
assessment to determine the extent of the damage the fighting has had
on WFP assets, including its office, vehicles and warehouse as well as
on the livelihoods of people in the Abyei area," the agency said in its
operational update on Abyei.
An additional 30 WFP staff have been deployed to manage food
distributions, provide logistical support, and to coordinate with other
humanitarian workers on the ground. An expert will also be sent to look
into the nutrition situation of those displaced, especially children,
as wells as the overall food security situation in Twic county. IBNS
