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UN Calls for Urgent Aid to Avert Famine in South Sudan


Sat 02 Nov 2024 | 07:12 PM
Israa Farhan

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has issued an urgent appeal for donor funding to address a deepening hunger crisis in South Sudan, where millions are at risk of famine.

Amid soaring operational costs and escalating food insecurity, the WFP reports that its food supply stores in South Sudan are now empty and estimates a need for $404 million to meet its planned assistance for 2025.

The acting director of WFP in South Sudan, Sean Hughes, highlighted the logistical challenges in delivering aid swiftly, noting that the country’s limited road networks are impassable for most of the year.

These issues particularly impact the eastern and central regions of South Sudan, where food insecurity is widespread.

Hughes stressed the importance of securing funding by year-end to enable the WFP to transport food by road during the dry season, which runs from December to April.

Road deliveries, he noted, are far more efficient than costly air operations, which were necessary to double in 2024, adding $30 million to expenses.

As South Sudan faces an acute food crisis, the WFP has pointed out that over 56% of the country’s population is now in a hunger emergency.

Rapid funding would allow the organization to pre-position food supplies and mitigate further escalation in humanitarian costs, helping to deliver life-saving assistance to those most in need.