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

GENEVA - The World Food Programme (WFP) is set to halt food aid to two million South Sudanese individuals within weeks due to funding shortages, according to the UN agency's assistant executive director, Matthew Hollingworth. With about 7.8 million people, approximately half of the nation's population, struggling to obtain sufficient nourishment daily, the agency's support currently benefits around three million individuals.

Hollingworth stated that an immediate infusion of $86 million and $416 million over the subsequent six months is required to sustain assistance levels. The dire situation is further exacerbated for 2.2 million children and 1.2 million pregnant or breastfeeding women who urgently require nutrition support. If additional resources are not secured, more than a million vulnerable people may lose access to life-saving food and nutrition assistance by October.

Hollingworth noted that South Sudan's humanitarian landscape has been marred by internal conflicts since gaining independence in 2011, and the nation has also absorbed more than a million refugees from the civil war in neighboring Sudan. Economic challenges and climate-related pressures have further deteriorated the humanitarian crisis.

"We are about to drop off a financial cliff at a time when needs are at the greatest level that they've been at for the past 13, 14 years," Hollingworth lamented.