US Allocates $345Mln To Support UN Food Assistance In South Sudan - WFP

The United States contributed $345 million to the UN's World Food Program (WFP) to support vulnerable families facing hunger in South Sudan, the WFP said in a press release

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th April, 2021) The United States contributed $345 million to the UN's World Food Program (WFP) to support vulnerable families facing hunger in South Sudan, the WFP said in a press release.

"The WFP welcomes contributions totaling US$345 million from the United States through USAID's [the US Agency for International Development] Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance to support WFP food assistance in South Sudan, where rising food insecurity has pushed 60 percent of the population into hunger and poverty," the release said.

Earlier in the day, the US State Department announced that it has earmarked $95 million in assistance to aid some four million South Sudanese refugees displaced by the fighting in the country.

According to the WFP assessment, in 2021, some 7.24 million people will face severe acute hunger by July, while 1.4 million children will be acutely malnourished due to the impact of COVID-19 and increased conflict.

The new funding will provide immediate food and nutrition assistance and scale-up livelihoods and resilience-building activities, the WFP said.

Despite the contribution, the WFP said it experiences funding shortages for South Sudan and requires $125 million to provide life-saving food assistance in sufficient quantities to the affected people.