US announces $117 million in humanitarian funding to South Sudan  

JUBA – The US government has yet again announced at least $117 million in humanitarian funding to South Sudan, days after the IGAD, the regional bloc which mediated the country’s revitalized peace agreement, said the Biden administration has significantly cut its financial funding to peace implementation.

In a statement, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) said the funding was provided by the United States via the USAID to help South Sudanese cope with devastating floods, impact of violence, food insecurity, and the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing more than $117 million in additional humanitarian assistance for the people of South Sudan, who continue to experience the devastating effects of violence, food insecurity, the COVID-19 pandemic and successive years of widespread flooding,” the USAID said in the statement.

“This funding was made available following the drawdown of the full balance of the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust, an effort in coordination with the U.S. Department of Agriculture which will provide an additional $670 million in food assistance to respond to historic levels of acute food insecurity around the world,” it added.

It said that “With these funds, the U.S. government is supporting the UN World Food Program to provide food and nutrition assistance to more than one million crisis-affected people, including refugees and individuals facing malnutrition, across South Sudan.

“The United States continues to stand with the people of South Sudan as the country experiences compounding crises.”