The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Sudan to open Adre border crossing to facilitate humanitarian aid access
UN aid agencies on Friday welcomed the news that the Sudanese authorities will open Adre border crossing from Chad into Sudan, as the war-torn country faces famine or acute hunger in many regions, with many roads impassable owing to heavy rains.
The vital humanitarian corridor will allow the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to scale up assistance to 14 areas facing famine in Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum and Gezira. “As we speak, two convoys with nearly 6,000 metric tons of food and nutrition supplies for around half a million people, are being loaded, destined for risk-of-famine areas in north, central and west Darfur states as soon as official government communication and clearances are received,” said Leni Kinzli, spokesperson for WFP Sudan.
Just two weeks ago, famine was confirmed in Zamzam displacement camp near El Fasher, the wartorn capital of North Darfur. It shelters more than 400,000 displaced people. In total, WFP aims to support up to 8.4 million people by the end of the year.
Sudan’s war, which erupted 16 months ago between rival militaries the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, has ravaged food production, destroyed essential markets and cut off communities from assistance.
Along with heavy fighting, the continuing rainy season has already caused major setbacks in delivering assistance, with flooded roads halting aid convoys.
“More than 50 trucks carrying an estimated 4,800 metric tons of food and nutrition assistance, enough for around half a million people, are stuck in various locations across Sudan and unable to move toward their final destinations due to flooded and impassable roads,” said WFP’s Ms. Kinzli, who insisted that humanitarian agencies urgently needed to “see the actual opening of (Adre) materialize and see trucks moving across the border as soon as possible”.
Hunger’s lasting impact
Echoing that message, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted the immediate and lasting effects of poor nutrition and acute food insecurity among vulnerable people.
WHO spokesperson Dr Margaret Harris told journalists in Geneva that a mild infection in a malnourished person with a weakened immune system can easily turn into a catastrophic illness. Children in particular can die very quickly from what might be a minor infection, she said, adding that after 16 months of heavy fighting, Sudan was poorly equipped to provide lifesaving medical care, with up to 80 per cent of hospitals “non-functional”. She added: “People are dying simply from a lack of access to basic and essential health care medication. We are seeing reports of cholera, measles, malaria, dengue and meningitis from several states.”
Preventable tragedy
The development comes amid ongoing conflict including a bombing attack on Wednesday that devastated a school and market in the city of El Obeid, leaving five girls dead and 20 children injured.
The UN migration agency IOM has also warned that Sudan is at “breaking point” and that there will be tens of thousands of preventable deaths from hunger, disease, floods and violence in the coming months without a larger global response. According to IOM, more than 10.7 million people are seeking safety within the country and many have been displaced twice or more times. Almost all internally displaced persons across Sudan – 97 per cent – are in localities with acute levels of food insecurity or worse.
ends
Story: “Sudan hunger – WFP, WHO” – 16 August 2024
Speakers:
- Ms. Leni Kinzli, Spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP) Sudan (speaking from Nairobi)
- Dr. Margaret Harris, Spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO)
TRT: 02’28”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 16 August 2024 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Geneva Press briefing
SHOTLIST
- Exterior medium shot: UN flag alley
- Wide shot of the podium with speakers at the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Leni Kinzli, spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP) Sudan: “Across the country, WFP is scaling up assistance to 14 areas, either in famine or at risk of famine, largely located in Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum, and Gezira, with the aim to support up to 8.4 million people by the end of the year. The opening of this critical humanitarian corridor through Adre will enable us to deliver aid into Sudan's conflict rattled Darfur region, where famine was confirmed just two weeks ago in Zamzam IDP camp (Internally Displaced Population), near El Fasher, North Darfur’s capital.”
- Wide shot of press room with speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Leni Kinzli, spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP) Sudan: “As we speak, two convoys with nearly 6,000 metric tons of food and nutrition supplies for around half a million people, are being loaded, destined for risk of famine areas in north, central and west Darfur States as soon as official government communication and clearances are received.”
- Medium shot: journalists at the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Leni Kinzli, spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP) Sudan: “Currently, more than 50 trucks carrying an estimated 4,800 metric tons of WFP food and nutrition assistance, enough for around half a million people, are stuck in various locations across Sudan and unable to move toward their final destinations due to flooded and impassable roads.”
- Wide shot press conference room and control room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Leni Kinzli, spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP) Sudan: “But we need to see those trucks moving across the border as soon as possible, for the actual opening of that corridor to materialize.”
- Medium shot of the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Leni Kinzli, spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP) Sudan: “It is the world's largest hunger crisis: 25.6 million people are in acute hunger, are facing acute hunger. That's 54 per cent of the population.”
- Wide shot of the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Margaret Harris, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “In the conflict hotspots, 70 to 80 per cent of the hospitals are nonfunctional. So, people are dying simply from a lack of access to basic and essential health care medication. We are seeing reports of cholera, measles, malaria, dengue and meningitis from several states.”
- Wide shot of the press conference room and control room at the back.
Similar Stories
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
ends
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in DR Congo continues to spread across the vast country despite some success in containing it, aid officials said on Tuesday, in a renewed call for international support to help responders on the ground.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WFP
‘Super El Niño’ and converging crises worsen hunger in South Sudan and across the region - WFP
South Sudan’s hunger crisis is becoming increasingly catastrophic as violence, extreme weather and dwindling aid leave millions without enough food, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
In war-torn Gaza, a growing number of women-headed households face “impossible decisions” every day, amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes and still-scarce resources, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk made the following remarks to the Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar at the 63rd Human Rights Council.
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk today delivered an update on the global human rights situation to the 63rdsession of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated attacks on humanitarian warehouses put vital medical aid at risk in Ukraine - WHO
A new airstrike overnight damaged one of the main warehouses used by the UN health agency to store humanitarian medical supplies in the Kyiv region, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. This is the third attack to affect a WHO-used storage in the last three months.
2
2
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WMO
Powerful El Niño heightens extreme-weather risks through 2027, as countries brace for impact - WMO
Fuelled by extraordinarily warm waters across the tropical Pacific Ocean, the El Niño climate pattern is expected to intensify in the coming months. Forecasters are almost certain that it will persist through February next year, with unusually warm conditions expected across the globe.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , IFRC , UN WOMEN , WHO
Nepal flood deaths near 1,000 as those spared struggle to survive – UN humanitarians
With the death toll in Nepal’s catastrophic flash floods inching towards 1,000, rescue workers are facing harsh conditions while survivors lack access to food, safe water and health care, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNDRR , IFRC , WHO
Nepal: Flooding disaster “not over” as humanitarians work around the clock
While search and rescue efforts continued Friday following flash floods and mudslides in northern Nepal, UN humanitarians are taking stock of the devastation amid concerns over more flooding to come.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL
Damaged roads, disrupted services and renewed military activity are putting civilians at risk in south Lebanon, UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) warns.
The UN peacekeeping mission is urging restraint and renewed political engagement to prevent further escalation.
1
1
1
Edited News | ICRC , UNODA
Amid unconfirmed reports that fully autonomous and AI-guided drones are now being used on the battlefield, UN chief António Guterres and the President of the Red Cross on Tuesday renewed their urgent call for stricter controls, before it is too late.