The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has condemned a decision by Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to expel two of its most senior officials from the country, warning that the move comes “at a pivotal time” when more than 24 million people in Sudan are facing acute food insecurity. The officials — the WFP Country Director and the Emergency Coordinator — were told to leave within 72 hours and were given no explanation, the agency said.
The Rome-based agency stressed that it had spent recent months achieving “hard-won progress” alongside other humanitarian partners, scaling up assistance to reach over 4 million people every month — an effort it now says is at risk because of the sudden leadership disruption. “At the very moment we need to expand, we are being forced to reorganize,” WFP said, adding that the decision could jeopardize operations that support millions of vulnerable Sudanese facing extreme hunger, malnutrition and the threat of starvation.
WFP officials and senior UN leaders are now engaging the Sudanese authorities to protest the expulsions and to seek clarification. The agency called on “all parties” in Sudan to prioritize the lives of civilians who depend on emergency food and nutrition assistance to survive, noting that Sudan is currently one of the world’s largest and most complex humanitarian crises.
Humanitarian needs at record levels
According to WFP, humanitarian needs in Sudan “have never been greater.” Fighting, access restrictions and repeated disruptions to aid convoys have pushed communities in several regions to the brink of famine. Removing top WFP staff at this moment, the agency argued, will slow decision-making and disrupt pipelines that bring food into the country and then move it onward to hard-to-reach areas.
Call for cooperation
The UN agency reiterated that it remains “unwavering” in its commitment to the Sudanese people, but emphasized that humanitarian actors must be allowed to work safely and without political interference if they are to maintain current aid levels or scale them up.
