UN World Food Program launches investigation into its Sudan operations as famine spreads

[August 28, 2024]  By Giulia Paravicini and Maggie Michael

NAIROBI/CAIRO (Reuters) - The U.N. World Food Program is investigating two of its top officials in Sudan over allegations including fraud and concealing information from donors about its ability to deliver food aid to civilians amid the nation’s dire hunger crisis, according to 11 people with knowledge of the probe.

The investigation by the WFP’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) comes as the U.N.’s food-aid arm is struggling to feed millions of people in war-plagued Sudan, now suffering one of the world’s most severe food shortages in years.

As part of the probe, investigators are looking at whether WFP staff sought to hide the alleged role of Sudan’s army in obstructing aid amid a brutal 16-month war with a rival paramilitary for control of the country, according to five of the sources who spoke to Reuters.

One of those being examined in the inquiry is the WFP’s deputy country director in Sudan, Khalid Osman, who has been given a “temporary duty assignment” outside Sudan, a de facto suspension, according to six sources.

A second senior official, WFP area manager Mohammed Ali, is being investigated in connection with the alleged disappearance of more than 200,000 liters of the U.N. organization’s fuel in the Sudanese city of Kosti, according to four sources. Reuters could not confirm whether Ali remains in his role.

Osman and Ali declined to comment when contacted by Reuters, referring the news agency to the WFP’s media office.

Asked about the probe by Reuters, the WFP said that “allegations of individual misconduct related to irregularities in pockets of our operation in Sudan” are under urgent review by its inspector general’s office. It declined to comment on the nature of alleged wrongdoing or the status of specific employees.

The U.S. government’s aid agency, USAID, told Reuters in a statement that it was notified by the WFP on Aug. 20 of “potential incidents of fraud affecting WFP operations in Sudan.” USAID says it is the single largest donor to the WFP, providing nearly half of all contributions in a typical year.

“These allegations are deeply concerning and must be thoroughly investigated,” the USAID statement said. “USAID immediately referred these allegations to the USAID Office of the Inspector General."

The investigation comes at a critical time for the WFP, which describes itself as the world’s largest humanitarian organization. It won the 2020 Nobel peace prize for its role in combating hunger and promoting peace.

The WFP is battling severe hunger on many fronts. It is seeking $22.7 billion in funding to reach 157 million people, including some 1.3 million on the brink of famine, mostly in Sudan and Gaza, but also in countries such as South Sudan and Mali. In addition to distributing food itself, the WFP also coordinates and provides logistical support for large-scale emergencies globally for the wider humanitarian community.

In recent years, however, its operations have been rocked by diversion and theft of aid in countries including Somalia and Yemen. The WFP and USAID last year temporarily suspended food distribution to Ethiopia following reports of the widespread stealing of food aid there.

More than half a dozen humanitarians and diplomats told Reuters they are worried that mismanagement at the heart of the WFP’s Sudan office could have contributed to the failure so far to deliver enough aid during the war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The conflict has been raging for more than 16 months.

The investigation at the WFP comes weeks after the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), an international technical group tasked with measuring hunger, determined that famine had taken hold in at least one site in Sudan’s Darfur region. The IPC has classified 13 other areas across the country as being at risk of famine. And it says that more than 25 million people, or over half Sudan’s population, face crisis levels of hunger or worse.

Reuters reported in April that in some parts of the country, people were forced to survive by eating leaves and soil. In June, a Reuters analysis of satellite images showed that cemeteries were expanding fast as starvation and disease spread.

A volunteer distributes food to people in Omdurman, Sudan, September 3, 2023. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo

Aid workers say they have struggled to deliver relief, partly because of logistical constraints and fighting. But they also allege that army-linked authorities have hindered access by withholding travel permits and clearances, while RSF troops have looted aid supplies. Both factions deny impeding the delivery of humanitarian relief.

One focus of the investigation involves suspicions that senior WFP staff in Sudan may have misled donors, including U.N. Security Council member states, by downplaying the Sudanese army’s alleged role in blocking aid deliveries to areas controlled by the RSF, according to four people with direct knowledge of the matter.

In one instance in June 2024, two people with knowledge of the probe said, WFP deputy country director Osman allegedly hid from donors that authorities aligned with the army in Port Sudan had refused to give permission for 15 trucks to carry life-saving aid to Nyala in South Darfur, an area that includes communities at risk of famine. The trucks waited for seven weeks before they finally were granted permission to proceed.

Osman, who was promoted within the WFP’s Sudan office with unusual speed, had high-level army connections, according to eight sources. He exercised control over which WFP colleagues gained visa approvals to enter Sudan, allowing him to limit access and scrutiny of the army’s management of aid, according to three people familiar with the system.

Reuters was unable to independently confirm the allegations against Osman or what possible motive he may have had in misleading donors.

In its written response to Reuters, the WFP said it had taken “swift measures” to reinforce its work in Sudan due to the scale of the humanitarian challenge and following the IPC’s confirmation of famine in Darfur. “WFP has taken immediate staffing actions to ensure the integrity and continuity of our life-saving operations,” it added.

The war in Sudan broke out in April 2023. It has driven more than 10 million people from their homes, causing the world’s largest internal displacement crisis as well as worsening hunger, a spike of severe acute malnutrition among children, and outbreaks of disease such as cholera. The United States and rights groups have accused both sides of war crimes, which the combatants deny.

U.N. agencies have been operating out of Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast, where the army-aligned government relocated after losing control of most of the capital city of Khartoum early in the war.

The WFP and other U.N. agencies have complained that lack of access contributed to their inability to reach people in need, mostly in areas under RSF control such as Khartoum and the Darfur and Kordofan regions. But the aid agencies have largely avoided blaming either of the warring parties publicly.

In response to a request for comment about the military’s role in the hunger crisis, Sudanese armed forces spokesman Nabil Abdallah said the army is doing all it can to facilitate aid to “alleviate the suffering of our people.”

In response to questions, an RSF spokesperson said that the probe was a good step and that it should cover all humanitarian aid.

On Aug. 1, the IPC’s Famine Review Committee said that the war and the subsequent restrictions on aid deliveries were the main drivers of the food crisis in Sudan.

Some aid officials said they feared making public statements assigning blame, worrying the army could expel them from Port Sudan and they could lose access to army-controlled areas where hunger is acute.

(Reporting by Giulia Paravicini and Maggie Michael. Edited by Aidan Lewis.)

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