WFP Sudan receives large US food contribution
An USAID food contribution, valued at $135 million, arrived in Sudan, ahead of the approaching lean season.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) today welcomed a contribution of foodstuffs from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) valued at $135 million to help WFP provide assistance in Sudan during the lean season, including to 1.8 million internally displaced people in Darfur.
The USAID contribution consists of lentils, oil, and sorghum, a staple in Sudan. The contribution comes ahead of the lean season, which starts in May, when food needs among are typically at their highest.
“We are very grateful for the continued and unparalleled support of the people and Government of the United States, which enables us to meet the food needs of vulnerable and conflict-affected groups across Sudan,” said WFP Sudan Country Director Adnan Khan in a press statement on Tuesday. He said that it is critical that the international community re-commits to the needy in Sudan. He said that it is critical that the international community re-commits to the needy in Sudan.
The contribution will help WFP support food-insecure people across Sudan, including 1.8 million internally displaced people in Darfur. It will also support, for a six-month period, more than half a million school children in Darfur and around 262,000 in central and eastern Sudan through WFP’s school feeding programme.
“Amid continuing humanitarian needs in some regions, it is critical that the international community reinforces its commitments to the needy in Sudan.”
In 2015, WFP plans to assist 3.7 million people across Sudan through direct food assistance, cash vouchers and nutrition programmes, as well as helping communities to become self-reliant. This includes 2.8 million people in the conflict-affected region of Darfur and close to one million vulnerable people in central and eastern Sudan, and South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.
The United States is the single largest donor to WFP Sudan, having contributed some US$626 million towards its emergency operation since separation with South Sudan in 2011.
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