Exclusive-World Food Program’s troubles in Sudan hurt hunger relief, alienated donors - internal report

By Giulia Paravicini

Serious problems in the United Nations World Food Program’s response to the Sudan crisis are hampering the organization’s ability to alleviate hunger in the war-torn country and damaging its reputation with donors, according to a recent internal report seen by Reuters.

The U.N.’s main food-aid distributor, the WFP is struggling to feed millions of people in the African country, which is suffering one of the world’s worst hunger crises. The report identifies a range of problems in the WFP’s Sudan response, including an inability to scale up its operations, missed funding opportunities and what it describes as “anti-fraud challenges.”

The report is the result of an assessment in July and August by the WFP’s Regional Emergency Coordination (REC) team, which was tasked with helping to expand the U.N. body’s operations in Sudan and neighboring countries. The team’s findings are detailed in a five-page “REC Diagnostic Report,” marked confidential and dated August 30. The report calls Sudan the WFP’s largest emergency.

News of the report comes as the WFP is struggling to secure billions of dollars for hunger hot spots around the world and is battling a crisis of confidence among the United States and other top donors. In Sudan, roughly half the population of 50 million is estimated to be suffering from severe hunger amid the civil war that has ravaged the country since April 2023. Hundreds are believed to be dying from starvation and hunger-related disease each day.

“WFP’s reputation for rapid emergency response has been damaged,” the report says of its Sudan operation. “Key stakeholders, including key donors, are now demanding concrete progress before committing additional funding.”

Asked about the report, WFP Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau didn’t address its specifics but told Reuters that the WFP and other humanitarian agencies weren’t prepared for the sudden crisis in Sudan. “It took us too long to actually get back on our feet and deliver in an effective and efficient and principled way,” Skau said in an interview in Cairo on Monday. “I'm confident the WFP is there now and that we are doing everything possible.”

Skau said that over the past few months, the WFP has put in place the strongest leadership available for its Sudan response, bolstered teams in area offices and reviewed its strategy to reach people in need. The WFP has some 700 trucks on the roads in Sudan, he added. The WFP also said it had reached over 2 million people in the country with cash-based assistance this year.

“We always want our colleagues to provide honest assessments,” Skau said. “And the spirit is always that we then address that.”

A WFP spokesperson didn’t respond to detailed questions about the report’s findings.

The WFP’s internal report also criticizes overly optimistic targets for distributing aid. The Sudan office’s initial target of reaching 8.4 million people in need was “deemed unrealistic and posed a reputational risk to the organization,” the report says. “Current projections suggest that WFP may only be able to fulfill around 50 percent of its current implementation plan by October 2024,” the report concludes.

The report says that an analysis of agreements between the WFP and its food-distribution partners found “excessively high operational costs irrespective of the quantities distributed.” High costs and “unrealistic planning” resulted in payments to non-government organizations that “achieved less than 5 per cent” of their distribution targets, the report says.

In August, Reuters revealed that the WFP is investigating two of its top officials in Sudan over allegations including fraud and concealing information from donors about its ability to deliver aid.

The emergency coordination team’s report on Sudan has been shared with the WFP’s inspector general’s office, which is conducting the probe, because it covers problems related to the fraud investigation, according to people familiar with the matter. The team’s report has not been shared with donors, the people said.

The WFP had no comment on the Sudan fraud investigation’s status. It previously told Reuters that it’s investigating “allegations of individual misconduct related to irregularities in pockets of our operation in Sudan” but declined to describe the suspected wrongdoing.

Among the issues identified by the emergency coordination team in its report were delays in reporting and addressing what it termed “Anti-Fraud and Anti-Corruption” incidents. In August, there were nearly 200 cases either overdue or still pending, “posing reputational and operational risks,” according to the report. It doesn’t elaborate on the cases.

The team’s report is accompanied by a two-page “Action Plan,” dated September 23. The measures outlined include revising aid targets, rebuilding relations with donors and the World Bank, and establishing a task force to clear the backlog of fraud and corruption probes.

The WFP 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.

In recent years, however, large quantities of its food aid have been diverted or stolen in some countries, including Ethiopia, Somalia and Yemen. In October, Reuters detailed how the WFP was aware food aid was being stolen in Ethiopia for several years and repeatedly failed to act. The WFP later pinned much of the blame on needy aid recipients.