UN delivers food aid South Sudan via Sudan

December 28, 2014-Khartoum-SudaneseOnline-UN announced on Monday that it has begun delivering food aid South Sudan via the Nile River from Sudan, warning the country could face a "hunger catastrophe".
World Food Programme (WFP) said that the corridor, through an area of high military activity, will reduce reliance on expensive airplane and helicopter deliveries, which cost six to seven times as much as river and road transport, "The threat of a hunger catastrophe remains very real in early 2015 as the dry season takes hold," said Stephen Kearney, WFP's acting country director. "This will make an enormous difference in our efforts to bring food assistance to people in critical need."
The border between Sudan and South Sudan has been heavily militarized since Juba declared independence from Khartoum three years ago, cutting off nearly all cross-border commercial and humanitarian traffic along the Nile. The route was opened only after extensive negotiations between the two countries, WFP said.
WFP said it had completed thousands of flights over the last year carrying food and nutrition supplies to some 2.5 million people isolated by conflict and bad roads, which become impassable during rainy seasons.

Arabic Forum