UNITED NATIONS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The UN relief chief commends frontline humanitarian responders defying the hostilities in Sudan as the world body and partners step up aid deliveries, a UN spokesman said on Wednesday.
Doctors, engineers and other responders in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, told UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths by telephone how their community-led humanitarian response works.
Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said Griffiths "commended the resilience and creativity of the Sudanese people, stressing that we need to support them."
The spokesman said the relief chief heard of their courageous efforts to provide food, shelter and emergency health support amid the ongoing threat of violence and looting. "We and our partners continue to ramp up our efforts to respond to the crisis."
The World Food Programme (WFP) is scaling up emergency assistance to 4.9 million people in the coming months in areas where the security situation allows. The agency aims to prevent and treat moderate acute malnutrition for 600,000 children under 5 years of age and pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Haq said that food insecurity is expected to surge to record levels in Sudan due to the conflict. More than 19 million people, or two-fifths of the population, would be affected.
The spokesman said the WFP resumed its regular flights from Addis Ababa to Port Sudan, ensuring the flow of critical aid and humanitarian personnel.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), headed by Griffiths, said the United Nations and its partners are expanding their role in moving supplies around the country.
In Blue Nile State, where the conflict has displaced more than 20,000 people, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and its partners support health and nutrition programs, including immunizations, screening and treatment for malnutrition, pregnancy care and reproductive health services.
Since the conflict began, UNICEF has secured fuel to save millions of doses of vaccines and vital medications in the cold chain, including insulin for children. The agency has also provided water, sanitation and hygiene supplies to the State Ministry of Health in Khartoum to support six hospitals.
In North Darfur, the humanitarian partners support health facilities with medicine, water and other items, Haq said. Twenty healthcare facilities have received water, sanitation and hygiene support, with at least 100,000 liters of water trucked in.
The World Health Organization and the United Arab Emirates on Friday delivered 30 tons of medical supplies to Port Sudan worth roughly 444,000 U.S. dollars by air, and it was the first air delivery to Sudan since the conflict erupted.
"With more humanitarian shipments expected to arrive in Sudan in the coming days and weeks, we call for customs clearance to be expedited to ensure that life-saving assistance can reach people in need as quickly as possible," OCHA said.
The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) warns that women and girls displaced by the conflict are increasingly at risk of gender-based violence and sexual exploitation and abuse.
The UNFPA said access to prevention and response services is severely limited in the capital and across the country.
"That's due to shortages in fuel and supplies, as well as the destruction and looting of health care centers and hospital," Haq said. "We are working with our humanitarian partners to set up safe spaces for women and girls in states hosting internally displaced people."
The UNFPA is also helping expand remote services to support survivors of gender-based violence. ■
