Aid Shortages Deepen Sudan’s Food Crisis as Yemen’s Health Services Face Strain

Luke Lindberg, the new executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme, warned on November 12 that aid cuts are worsening Sudan’s food crisis. Prolonged conflict has left millions facing hunger. After his first field visit to Sudan, he said many families had been separated by war and faced severe food insecurity. He called for an end to the fighting and increased international humanitarian support.

Residents of Khartoum, Sudan, evacuate to escape the conflict.（VietVance）

The agency provided food assistance to more than 4 million people in August 2026, including 880,000 in areas at high risk of famine. Funding shortages have since reduced its reach to just over 3 million people, leaving an estimated 900,000 vulnerable people without essential food assistance. Insecurity, road blockades and flood damage are also obstructing the delivery of relief supplies.

The World Food Programme said it urgently needs $520 million to provide food and nutrition support to 5.4 million people in Sudan through April 2027. Since Sudan’s civil war began in 2023, millions have been displaced, hundreds of thousands have died, and famine has spread.

The same day, the Arab League expressed concern over the worsening health crisis in Yemen’s Taiz province. Shortages of fuel, oxygen, medicines and medical supplies threaten essential health services, particularly care for newborn and premature babies. Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmi warned that obstructing the delivery of essential goods to Taiz could cause a humanitarian disaster and directly endanger the lives of children and patients. He called on the Houthi forces to immediately lift restrictions on the transport of aid and essential goods, and urged humanitarian organizations to provide hospitals with fuel, oxygen and medicines without delay.

Source: VietVance