World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

Millions of Sudanese are preparing to vote in presidential, legislative and gubernatorial elections this weekend, but the belated polls come at a time when Sudan continues to grapple with significant humanitarian challenges.(..)Across the country, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that some 4.3 million people will require food assistance at some point this year.

Chaos and confusion reign in Sudan’s first multiparty elections for 24 years. But the vote could yet benefit a huge country that is likely soon to split into two.(..)As a result, about 4m Darfuris still rely on food aid from the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP).

Three-day-old Odong Obong lay in the hospital bed, his pencil-thin arms almost motionless and his shriveled, gaunt face resembling that of an elderly man. Emaciated babies and young children throughout the ward bore the signs of hunger: exposed ribs and distended stomachs. Outside, old villagers reclined motionless in the shade, too frail to walk.(..)The World Food Program quadrupled its assistance levels from January to March in the Akobo region of southeastern Sudan.

Aid agencies are warning of an impending food emergency in South Sudan, where "unexpected and alarming" malnutrition rates in one region, devastated by drought and tribal conflict, have prompted an appeal for urgent extra funding.(..)The World Food Programme estimates that nearly half the population will need food aid at some point this year.

Over 1,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have returned home to Maban County in Upper Nile State by mid-March, 2010. (..) Upon arrival, each individual received food rations for three months from the World Food Programme and non-food items including cooking pots, eating utensils, blankets, soap, sleeping mats and mosquito nets from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Medair.
 

Amer Daoudi, regional director for United Nations World Food Progrmme (WFP) in Sudan, has urged donors Monday to give more assistance and warned that food security situation in Southern Sudan has worsened due to the drought and insecurity.

Just over half of about four million people who fled the civil war in South Sudan have returned there after the 2005 peace agreement, the International Migration Agency said on Tuesday.(..)About 4.3 million people in the south relied on food aid last year, according to the UN's World Food Programme.

Officials are appealing for calm during the campaign period ahead of upcoming historic elections in April as insecurity remains a major concern in Southern Sudan. (..) Hunger is also a major problem: the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that the number of people in the south needing food aid has more than quadrupled, from just less than a million in 2009 to 4.3 million this year, because of conflict and drought.

About 11 million people in Sudan will need food aid in 2010 because of conflict, drought and high food prices in the country, the Rome-based World Food Programme said. The number of the people needing food aid in South Sudan has also increased from about one million in 2009 to over 4.3 million this year. “One is the drought and the second factor is inter-tribal conflicts,” WFP Southern Sudan Coordinator Leo Van Der Veldon told reporters.

The U.N. World Food Program says the number of people in southern Sudan needing food aid has quadrupled – up from about one million in 2009 to over four million this year. WFP Southern Sudan Coordinator Leo Van Der Veldon, who’s in the regional capital of Juba, says there are two main factors in the deteriorating situation. “One is the drought. The drought is not only here in South Sudan, but also it’s affected Kenya, parts of Uganda and Ethiopia. And the second factor is inter-tribal conflicts. Both had an effect on the high food prices,” he says.