KHARTOUM: The UN chief has strongly condemned the looting of the World Food Program’s (WFP) offices in Khartoum, Sudan over the weekend, terming it as “violation” of humanitarian services.
UN Chief Strongly Condemns Looting of WFP Compound
In a statement issued by the UN spokesperson, António Guterres noted that “most, if not all, UN and its humanitarian partners, have been impacted by the looting on such scale”, since the power struggle between the army of Sudan and RSF began, which fighting entering a fourth week.
Speaking to the media at the daily United Nations briefing on Monday, Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq has said that it is mainly computer and office equipment that had been stolen by unidentified looters.
The spokesperson reminded that overall, 17,000 metric tons of food items had been taken, mostly in the initial few days of the fighting, worth $13 million.
Farhan Haq said that WFP had pre-positioned about 80,000 tons of grain before the fighting began on April 15, highlighting that the looting was depriving people of potentially life-saving assistance.
However, the UN chief said that this is the latest violation of humanitarian facilities since the start of violence in Sudan.
“The UN chief reiterates the need for parties to guard and respect humanitarian facilities and workers. Civilian infrastructure should also be protected in order to rescue lives.”
The UN Secretary General said that the “needs of the people of Sudan, who are caught up in a humanitarian disaster, must come first.”
Farhan Haq further added the UN and its humanitarian partners were “working in order to expand humanitarian operations”, including enhancing the distribution network of assistance around Sudan, “as UN responds to rapidly growing needs.”
