WFP Announces the Expansion of Food and Cash Assistance in Sudan

Sudan Events – Follow-ups

The World Food Program WFP revealed the expansion of its emergency food and cash assistance in Sudan to ward off the looming famine, and warned of the deterioration of the conditions of civilians amid the intensification of fighting in areas such as El Fasher and Khartoum.
He pointed out that it will provide assistance to an additional five million people by the end of this year, and explained that this will double the number of people it planned to support at the beginning of 2024.
The Regional Director of the WFP in East Africa, Michael Dunford, warned on Thursday that the situation in Sudan is “already catastrophic and is likely to worsen if support does not reach all those affected by the conflict.” He explained that the program is in dire need of more than $200 million to continue its assistance this year. Noting that the WFP has provided assistance to more than 6.7 million people in all 18 states of Sudan since the conflict began in April of last year,
Dunford said that the situation in Sudan is “not forgotten as much as it is neglected.
The country is already facing the world’s largest displacement crisis, “and could become the world’s largest hunger crisis,” he said. “While world leaders are focused elsewhere, Sudan is not getting the attention and support it needs to avoid a nightmare scenario for the Sudanese people.
The world cannot pretend it does not know how bad the situation is in Sudan or that urgent action is needed.” Child malnutrition has also reached horrific levels and has already killed a number of children, putting an entire generation at risk, he added. The WFP said it is working around the clock to expand access and open new humanitarian corridors to deliver food supplies to communities across the country, across frontlines and borders.
It is also pre-positioning food at key border crossings and along supply routes as the rainy season approaches, making roads in Darfur and Kordofan impassable. In addition, the UN agency is working with smallholder farmers, many of whom have been displaced by conflict, to boost wheat production.