First major aid convoy reaches Zamzam Camp after months of famine
The World Food Programme (WFP) is finally surging operations across Sudan. The first aid convoy has arrived at Zamzam Displacement Camp in Darfur, one of the epicenters of Sudan’s spiraling famine. But the crisis is far from over.
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19 months of war between the national army and a genocidal militia called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has torn Sudan to shreds. This crisis became the largest humanitarian and displacement catastrophe in the world nearly a year ago, a fact largely being ignored by many world leaders and journalists. Khartoum already lies in ruins, as do countless towns and villages the war has blasted through or that the RSF has massacred. Multiple areas of Sudan descended into famine months ago.
Map: Location of El Fasher. (Operation Broken Silence)
Recent events in Zamzam and the nearby city of El Fasher in North Darfur shows just how dangerous this emergency has become. Home to an estimated two million people, the area has been under a brutal siege by the RSF for seven terrifying months. Famine was officially declared in Zamzam three months ago —catastrophic hunger actually began well before then— and no major aid convoys have reached the area until now. The result is that cemeteries and makeshift burial sites are expanding so rapidly they can be seen by satellites.
The traditional global aid structure has failed to meet the scale of this crisis head on for a myriad of reasons, the three biggest being a deplorable lack of funding, the army regime denying aid access, and the predictable collapse of law and order in RSF-controlled areas. Indeed, the problem most in control of the international system —merely funding the United Nations’ 2024 emergency response— is still neglected, with the aid effort only 60% funded for the entire year. And 2024 is almost over.
The world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe is not forgotten, it is being ignored. Ordinary Sudanese are still paying the price.
A flicker of light in the darkness
The WFP convoy that arrived in Zamzam is the first to appear since famine was confirmed in August. The combination of intense urban combat in nearby El Fasher, roads made impassable by seasonal rains, and the army denying aid access to large swaths of Darfur —which is mostly under control of the sadistic RSF— made delivering aid to Zamzam all but impossible.
The first aid trucks that rolled into Zamzam Displacement Camp on November 22 were met with cheers from exhausted people, many of whom have been forced to eat crushed peanut shells and grass. According to WFP, the convoy departed the Adré border crossing with Chad on November 9 and arrived on the 22, carrying 150 metric tons of aid for 12,500 people. A second, much larger convoy departed Port Sudan for Zamzam in the far east of the country on November 12 and carries 330 metric tons of aid for 27,400 people.
While this will have a positive impact on displaced Sudanese trying to survive in Zamzam, it is not nearly enough to turn the tide of famine in the area. The camp’s official population size before the siege of El Fasher was already over 500,000. Due to the extreme violence in El Fasher and other nearby areas, the Zamzam population has surged for months and may be closer to one million now.
This delivery, then, is akin to a band-aid on a gunshot wound, but it is hopefully the start of a more consistent flow of aid to preserve human life in this impossible environment. There is ample opportunity to continue saving lives here in partnership with local heroes.
You can help save lives in Zamzam
Team Zamzam is made up of 20 female counselors who are distributing food, sanitizing soap, and medicine to the disabled and blind, the elderly, unaccompanied children, widows who have taken in children, and those with severe acute malnutrition. They have also provided counseling services to over 4,000 women who were sexually assaulted and repaired 9 critical water wells. Thousands of people in Zamzam are alive today because of these brave women.
This month, Team Zamzam has fed 10,623 of the most vulnerable people. Another 252 families have benefited from the distribution of basic necessities, consisting of a food basket of flour, red lentils, and sugar.
The counselors need $20,000 per month to continue saving lives at this scale. Whether you can spare $10 or $1,000 doesn't matter; what matters is that we all do our part to support these brave women in this dark hour.
Checks can be made payable to Operation Broken Silence with Zamzam written in the memo line and mailed to PO Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900. You can also donate stock or crypto.
Operation Broken Silence is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Our EIN is 80-0671198. Your donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law.
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The first aid convoy has arrived at Zamzam Displacement Camp in Darfur, one of the epicenters of Sudan’s spiraling famine. But the crisis is far from over. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/first-major-aid-convoy-reaches-zamzam-camp-after-months-of-famine
The first aid trucks that rolled into Zamzam Displacement Camp in Sudan on November 22 were met with cheers from exhausted people, many of whom have been forced to eat crushed peanut shells and grass. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/first-major-aid-convoy-reaches-zamzam-camp-after-months-of-famine
Famine was officially declared in Zamzam three months ago and no major aid convoys have reached the area until now. The result is that cemeteries and makeshift burial sites are expanding so rapidly they can be seen by satellites. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/first-major-aid-convoy-reaches-zamzam-camp-after-months-of-famine
