File Photo: People cross the border between Sudan and Chad at the border post in Adre. AFP
Sudan has since April 2023 been gripped by a deadly conflict between the army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militias, led by his onetime ally and deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
"We very much welcome the Sudanese authorities' decision to extend the opening of the Adre crossing from Chad... to continue delivering humanitarian assistance to people in need... for an additional three months," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Dujarric said Guterres and Burhan had discussed the matter on the sidelines of the COP29 climate summit taking place in Azerbaijan.
Fighting has flared in recent weeks in a conflict that has already left tens of thousands of people dead and forced more than 11 million people from their homes, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Sudan is also enduring a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with about 26 million people facing severe food insecurity, and famine declared in the Zamzam camp for the displaced in Darfur.
Sudanese authorities first authorized the opening of the Adre border crossing in mid-August for a period of three months.
While the RSF controls most of Darfur, the United Nations cannot operate in any country without the consent of its recognized government, and pleaded in recent days with Khartoum to keep the Adre crossing open.
"With famine looming, this crossing is a lifeline for many Sudanese people in desperate need of food, water and medicine," World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X, welcoming the extension.
Dujarric, however, warned that moving aid through Adre alone was not enough.
"It is more important than ever that all necessary routes, including those crossing borders and those crossing conflict lines inside Sudan" are available for moving aid and personnel, he said.
In a Security Council meeting on Tuesday, Sudan's UN envoy Al-Harith Idriss al-Harith Mohamed accused the RSF of transporting weapons and munitions through Adre.
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