More than 1.2 mln people displaced by fighting in Sudan: UN

People wait to be evacuated near an airport in Omdurman, Sudan, April 26, 2023. (Xinhua)

Across Sudan, the World Food Programme reached more than 782,000 people with food and nutrition support over the past four weeks, the humanitarian office said.

UNITED NATIONS, May 31 (Xinhua) -- In the six weeks since the Sudan conflict broke out, more than 1.2 million people were displaced from their homes, UN humanitarians said on Wednesday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the International Organization for Migration (IOM) based its tally on preliminary reports from field teams, while additional displaced are likely to emerge as humanitarian access improves.

"Meanwhile, we and our partners continue to deliver aid wherever and whenever we can," OCHA said. "The World Food Programme (WFP) has started distributions in Khartoum State, reaching some 15,000 people trapped in Omdurman with emergency food."

Across Sudan, WFP reached more than 782,000 people with food and nutrition support over the past four weeks, the humanitarian office said. The agency also provides emergency telecommunications services to all UN agencies and the wider humanitarian community in Sudan, where basic connectivity remains challenging.

The UN Population Fund supplies life-saving medicines and reproductive health supplies to the maternity hospital in Wad Medani in Al-Jazirah state, OCHA said. Medical teams at the hospital also provide reproductive health services to women and girls who have fled from the capital, Khartoum.