UN cuts food assistance to Sudan by 41 per cent as funds dwindle

Scenes of the feeding programme in famine-plagued Western Sudan shows a woman with a child. Pic/Getty Images

The UN agencies have said that funding shortfalls have forced them to scale down humanitarian response toward millions of vulnerable people in need of food and other life-saving assistance in South Sudan.

The UN agencies said in a joint statement issued in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, that dwindling resources amid growing needs have forced humanitarian agencies to prioritise the delivery of vital life-saving support, which risks leaving millions behind.

"These are not easy decisions to make, and WFP's priority is to save as many lives as possible," Makena Walker, acting country director for the World Food Programme (WFP) in South Sudan, was quoted as saying in the statement, adding that the emergency food assistance, known as the Lean Season Response for 2023, was completed at the end of August in most locations.

The statement said that emergency food assistance will be prioritised for 3.2 million people who face the highest levels of food insecurity out of 7.76 million people in critical, emergency and catastrophic levels of need.

"We have worked closely with the government of South Sudan to ensure we are reaching communities most in need of assistance. The simple fact is that there are not enough resources available to the humanitarian community to meet the needs in South Sudan," Walker said.

So far, only 46 per cent of the 2023 humanitarian response plan totalling $1.7 billion has been funded, the statement said, noting that it is not enough to assist the 6.8 million people it targets to reach with life-saving assistance and protection services.

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