JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN - The European Union is giving 9.5 million euros of humanitarian funding to the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) in South Sudan.

 4.5 million people in South Sudan need food and nutrition support until the end of 2019, a number expected to increase to 5.5 million from January 2020, at the start of the time of year when food reserves from subsistence farming begin to deplete. 

 The EU money will provide food to over 700,000 vulnerable people, including refugees, malnourished pregnant and nursing women, and children under five.  520,000 of these people will receive cash assistance to buy food and commodities from local markets, in order to help rural economies and allow households to buy what they need most. 

 Christos Stylianides, the European Union Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, said,

 “Millions of people in South Sudan need food assistance… With this aid package, we are helping the most vulnerable.”

  “We are very grateful to the European Union for this contribution which comes at a critical time,” said Ute Klamert, WFP Assistant Executive Director for Partnerships & Advocacy. “Although the food security situation has slightly improved, there is an urgent need to continue providing life-saving support to people at risk of hunger. Food assistance saves lives and can help build communities’ resilience to allow them to sustain themselves in the future.”

 The EU has a long history of supporting the WFP in Sudan.  The latest funding brings total EU contributions to WFP activities in South Sudan to 113.6 million euros in the past five years.

 im