World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

Mother of seven Jilil Tika is one of hundreds of refugees that arrive in Yida refugee camp daily, fleeing Sudan's Nuba Mountains. Food is what her family needed most, and WFP provided it. WFP is assisting all refugees arriving in the camp.

Conflict in Sudan's Nuba Mountains continues to drive refugees across the border into South Sudan. Though anxious about the future and often separated from family members, they can at least get some assistance to keep them going.

Chep Makur Chuo spent 12 years in a Kenyan refugee camp before moving to Australia in 2005 to study engineering. He recently contacted WFP via Facebook to say thank you for the food assistance he received during his time at Kakuma camp. He says it allowed him to build a future for himself and his family.

The humanitarian situation in South Sudan has deteriorated severely in recent months. The already fragile situation that existed at the time of independence from Sudan in July 2011 has been exacerbated by a range of factors including conflict and internal population displacement, the ongoing influx of refugees from Sudan, soaring food prices and poor harvests.

Hunger is on the rise across South Sudan as poor harvests, soaring prices and conflict push millions to the edge of survival. In response, WFP plans on feeding more than 2.7 million people there this year. WFP Country Director Chris Nikoi says that approaching rains, poor infrastructure and high levels of malnutrition make the emergency operation a race against time.

Poor harvests, high food prices and conflict have fuelled a sharp rise in the number of hungry people in South Sudan, according to a new report by WFP and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. The report warned that millions of people in South Sudan risk going hungry unless swift action is taken.

WFP has stepped up efforts to assist more than 80,000 people driven from their homes by violence in the South Sudan state of Jonglei. In addition to food, WFP is moving in tents, medical supplies and other basic necessities to establish a critical lifeline for families affected by the fighting.

"We feel safe here," says Labakal Kalahin, an exhausted mother of four who lost one of her children while fleeing to the village of Pibor from the fighting which erupted late last year in South Sudan’s Jonglei State. She’s among tens of thousands of people driven from their homes by the fighting whom WFP is now moving to assist with food and basic necessities.

For South Sudan to feed its 9.6 million inhabitants, it must overcome a range of formidable challenges. Similarly  tough tasks exist for WFP and the humanitarian community as they set about reaching the almost 3 million South Sudanese who currently need emergency food assistance.

WFP is deeply concerned about the continued insecurity in Jonglei State in Southern Sudan. Recent violence has resulted in large-scale displacement and has pushed the food security situation to crisis levels.