Some life-saving food assistance entered South Darfur, UN says, but aid groups say more is needed

South Darfur saw a slight increase in critical aid when the UN's World Food Program delivered life-saving food and nutrition to some families across the violence-riddled western Sudanese state, the organization said. But more assistance is needed.

South Darfur saw a slight increase in critical aid when the UN's World Food Program delivered life-saving food and nutrition to some families across the violence-riddled western Sudanese state, the organization said. But more assistance is needed, humanitarian organizations say.

The WFP mission in Sudan said Tuesday that more than 50,000 people in hunger hotspots across South Darfur are receiving much-needed food assistance in collaboration with relief agency World Vision.

WFP didn't give a time frame for when the aid was distributed or say how WFP delivered the supplies. Several spokespersons for the organization did not immediately respond to requests for additional information.

Famine looms in parts of Sudan, which has been engulfed by violence since April of last year, when tensions between leaders of the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces erupted into intense fighting and spread across the country, including to Darfur. The UN says over 14,000 people have been killed and 33,000 injured.

"The number of people in South Darfur that suffer from hunger is vast and on top of that, there is a significant shortage of funds," Yonas Mesele, deputy country director for Sudan with the French humanitarian organization Action Against Hunger, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Mesele said that of the estimated US$581.2 million needed to meet humanitarian needs in Sudan, only 26 per cent was secured, citing an announcement at a meeting for the Food Security and Livelihoods Cluster Coordination on June 13.

The fighting in Sudan has displaced over 4.6 million people, according to the UN migration agency, including more than 3.6 million who were internally displaced and over 1 million others who fled to neighbouring countries.