The executive director of the WFP calls the event “inconceivable” and calls for a “thorough” investigation into the attack
20 (EUROPA PRESS)
At least three workers from the World Food Program (WFP) have died due to a bombing carried out during the day on Thursday in Sudan, without further details about the place or the party responsible for the attack, in the midst of the war that broke out in April of 2023 between the Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
“The WFP is outraged by the murder of three of its workers in an aerial bombardment in Sudan on Thursday, December 19, 2024,” the organization said in a brief statement published on its account on the social network X. “A WFP field office was hit during the attack,” he said, while ensuring that the agency “is gathering more information” about the attack.
Subsequently, the executive director of the organization, Cindy Mccain, has been “shocked” and “afflicted” by “the tragic death of three members of the WFP in Sudan after an aerial bombardment against the field office in Yabus, in Nile state Azul”, in the southeast of the country.
“Among the colleagues we have lost are the field office chief, a program associate and a security guard who were performing vital work on the front lines of one of the largest hunger crises,” McCain said. , who has stated that the victims’ families are informed and has expressed his solidarity to them.
In this sense, he stated that “any loss of life in humanitarian service is inconceivable.” “Humanitarian workers are not a target and should never be. Despite this, a record number have lost their lives in 2024,” he said, while ensuring that the rest of the team members in Sudan “are safe.” .
“Their safety is an absolute priority for the WFP. The WFP remains committed to the delivery of humanitarian aid in Sudan, including Blue Nile State,” he stressed, while insisting that the agency will remain in the country to deliver aid throughout Sudan.
“That is what our fallen colleagues would have wanted,” McCain said, adding that the WFP is trying to gather information about the attack and has called for a “thorough investigation” that will lead to accountability for those responsible.
“The unnecessary deaths of our colleagues are another reminder of the risks humanitarian workers face in conflict contexts and in complex operational environments like Sudan. We continue to call on world leaders to advocate for the protection of our dedicated men and women. women while risking their lives to provide vital assistance to others,” he added.
THE DEADLIEST YEAR FOR HUMANITARIAN WORKERS IN SUDAN
For his part, the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has condemned the events and has conveyed his condolences to the families of the victims and the WFP staff, as detailed by his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, in a letter in which he demands a “thorough investigation” of the facts.
“Yesterday’s incident highlights the devastating cost that Sudan’s brutal conflict is having on millions of people in need and on humanitarian workers trying to deliver life-saving aid to them,” added Dujarric, who insists that 2024 is the “deadliest” year in history for humanitarian personnel.
“2024 is the deadliest year on record for humanitarian workers in Sudan. However, despite significant threats to their personal safety, they continue to do everything they can to provide vital aid where it is needed,” he stressed. Guterres’ spokesman.
In this context, the highest representative of the United Nations has once again insisted on his call to the parties in conflict to “fulfill their obligations to protect civilians, including aid personnel”, and in no case direct their attacks against humanitarian or civilian facilities.
For his part, the head of UN Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, has acknowledged feeling “furious” about the latest events and has demanded “accountability and protection.” “The worst year on record for humanitarian workers just got even worse,” he stressed on his social networks.
The war between the Army and the RSF broke out in April 2023 due to strong discrepancies regarding the integration process of the paramilitary group – now declared a rebel – within the Armed Forces, a situation that caused the derailment of the open transition after the overthrow of Omar Hasan al Bashir’s regime in 2019.
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