WFP Cutting Food Rations To Refugees, Displaced People In S. Sudan Amid Major Funding Gaps

The food assistance arm of the United Nations, the World Food Program (WFP), is forced to reduce meals for the internally displaced people and refugees in South Sudan over poor funding amid the pandemic, WFP said on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th April, 2021) The food assistance arm of the United Nations, the World Food Program (WFP), is forced to reduce meals for the internally displaced people and refugees in South Sudan over poor funding amid the pandemic, WFP said on Thursday.

"The rations will be reduced from this month and affect nearly 700,000 refugees and internally displaced people who will now receive 50 percent of a full ration, down from 70 percent. A full ration provides 2,100 kilocalories per person and 50 percent is 1,050 kilocalories," the humanitarian organization said in a press release.

The reasons for such drastic measures include insufficient funding from donors and the rise of food insecurity in remote locations, both factors having been aggravated by the pandemic.

"WFP's resources in South Sudan are stretched thin at a time when levels of food insecurity are at their highest in a decade and donors are grappling with the economic impact of COVID-19," WFP said.

The UN agency added that it immediately required $125 million to carry on with its operations in the next six months.

"These cuts are likely to lead to higher rates of malnutrition and anemia, stunted child growth and people resorting to survival strategies. People who struggle to meet their basic food needs cope by skipping or reducing meals, taking loans with high interest, selling assets, and using child labour," WFP noted.

The cuts will affect some 440,000 displaced persons and about 260,000 refugees from neighboring countries.