The Ministry of Health in Sudan’s East Darfur State on Tuesday confirmed receipt of a shipment of 60,000 tons of humanitarian consisting of biscuits and nutritional supplements from the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
Mohammed Ahmed Mohammed, the Commissioner in charge of Humanitarian Affairs in East Darfur State, told Radio Tamazuj Tuesday that a UNICEF fleet of trucks arrived in the state capital.
“A convoy belonging to UNICEF arrived today (Tuesday) in Al-Daein and we are currently in the process of handing over the convoy to the health ministry,” he said.
Ahmed thanked the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for securing the relief convoy from Adré in Chad to Al-Daein and appealed to all donors, UN agencies, and national organizations to support those affected by the war in the state.
He revealed that the number of people displaced from other areas to East Darfur State has reached 435,000 and that the state requires more support and health and water services.
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Ministry of Health and Social Development, Al-Shafei Ahmed, said that the state has been grappling with a shortage of essential drugs.
“The state has been suffering from a shortage of medicines and medical supplies as a result of the war and the increasing influx of displaced persons to the state. The most affected are children due to the depletion of nutritional biscuits,” he revealed. “The convoy contains therapeutic nutritional biscuits and other nutritional supplements which are an addition to the state’s humanitarian aid.”
“However, we aspire for more,” Ahmed added.
He pointed out that what has reached the state in terms of aid represents only 10 percent of the state’s total needs.
For his part, the Director of the Sudanese Relief and Humanitarian Operations Agency, Jamal Al-Zain Kabashi, expressed happiness at receiving the first humanitarian aid convoy and thanked the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs for their cooperation.
He noted that the RSF committed to securing humanitarian aid until it reached the beneficiaries but that the aid does not meet the state’s needs.