In the photo: Women gather at a nutrition center inside the Renk Transit Centre, where WFP works closely with partners, including UNICEF and other local NGOs, to support the nutritional needs of refugees and returnees.
JUBA — More than one million vulnerable people in South Sudan could lose lifesaving food and nutrition assistance by October unless urgent funding is secured, the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned.
The UN food agency said the country is facing a deepening hunger crisis, with 7.8 million people struggling to find enough food and millions requiring urgent humanitarian assistance.
According to WFP, 2.2 million children and 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are in urgent need of nutrition support.
Speaking at a Geneva briefing on Tuesday, Matthew Hollingworth, WFP Assistant Executive Director for Programme Operations, urged the international community to provide additional funding to prevent further reductions in lifesaving assistance.
“Unless additional resources are secured, more than one million vulnerable people could lose access to life-saving food and nutrition assistance by October. So this is looming,” Hollingworth said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
Hollingworth also called on the South Sudanese government to increase its investment in supporting vulnerable citizens as humanitarian needs continue to rise.
“Across the whole country, conflict, displacement, economic hardship, climate shocks, and the situation in neighboring Sudan are all converging to push millions of people deeper into vulnerability,” he said.
“At the same time, as I say, we’re seeing not just the World Food Programme’s humanitarian assistance, but all actors’ humanitarian assistance in the country rapidly declining in scale.”
He said over the last three years the World Food Programme and partners have provided food, cash, and nutrition assistance to refugees and an increasing number of South Sudanese returnees going into already vulnerable communities.
He further urged authorities to remove illegal checkpoints and taxation imposed on humanitarian organizations, saying such practices delay the delivery of assistance and increase the cost of humanitarian operations.
The WFP official appealed for $416 million in additional funding over the next six months to sustain lifesaving food and nutrition assistance in South Sudan, warning that the country is facing one of its most dangerous humanitarian periods in years.
“If you just look at WFP, we have an USD 86 million gap right now and a USD 416 million gap over the next six months. Without that, we can’t serve the refugees,” he said.
“We can’t serve the displaced. We can’t serve the vulnerable host communities during these six months. And we can’t serve those people that are living in fear of famine in at least four locations of Jonglei State.”
He urged urgent financial support is needed to maintain food and nutrition programs and prevent vulnerable communities from losing access to essential assistance.
“We do, however, also have a significant call to action for the Government of South Sudan. The burden cannot only sit with humanitarian and development workers. The Government of South Sudan has to start mobilizing their own funds to support their own people.”
