UN agency says two million to go without food aid in South Sudan

GENEVA - The World Food Programme (WFP) warns it will halt food aid to two million individuals in South Sudan due to insufficient funding, according to an assistant executive director, Matthew Hollingworth. The UN agency currently supports around three million people daily, but the number could drop to one million by month-end without acquiring substantial additional resources promptly.

Hollingworth estimates that $86 million is urgently required, combined with $416 million over the upcoming six months to sustain support. Approximately 2.2 million children and 1.2 million pregnant or breastfeeding women urgently require nutrition assistance, the WFP official added. Without acquiring supplementary resources, more than a million vulnerable people may lose access to essential food and nutrition aid by October.

Hollingworth noted that WFP warehouses in Malakal once held 10,000 tonnes of food annually but now contain less than 300 tonnes. Since its independence in 2011, South Sudan has faced recurring internal conflicts and has taken in over a million refugees from the civil war in neighboring Sudan. Economic challenges and climate-related pressures have exacerbated the humanitarian situation, with Hollingworth stating that the agency is "about to drop off a financial cliff at a time when the needs are at the greatest level that they've been at for the past 13, 14 years."