Sudan, Racked by Famine, Agrees To $100 Million U.S. Food Airlift

The New York Times, Oct. 13, 1988

By Jane Perlez

Main Point: Sudan Government agrees to allow U.S. to start a ten day $100 million food airlift to the starving southern region of Sudan.

Summary: The airlift is to provide relief to the hundreds of thousands of starving Sudanese in the south, where in one town 8,000 thousand people died in five months. Sudan is the second largest recipient of U.S. aid in Africa. Relief has been hampered by government reluctance to allow food into areas it perceives to be sympathetic to rebels in the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army. The government resupplies it’s own troops, but not the civilians. The rebels have also prevented food deliveries, threatening to shoot down planes that attempt to airlift food.

The government is approving the current airlift, but the rebels are not. There is still a threat that the rebels might not allow food to be distributed. Relief has also been slow because NGO’s in Sudan have been afraid to speak out against the government for fear that they will be thrown out of the country. World Vision, which had provided food was removed from Sudan for providing food to south without government approval.

Summary by W. Davis