EU Supports WFP Food Assistance And Air Operations In Sudan

WFP will use the first contribution of €5.5 million to provide four months of much-needed food assistance to 31,000 refugees in Kassala State through cash-based transfers (food vouchers). WFP will also use part of the funds to provide five months of nutritional support to 86,600 children under five, and pregnant and nursing women, all of whom are at risk of malnutrition across Sudan.

The second contribution of more than €2.5 million will help WFP to continue to provide vital air services for the humanitarian community across Sudan. The WFP-operated UNHAS facilitates the movement of humanitarian workers to particularly remote and hard-to-reach locations across Darfur and in central and eastern Sudan.

“The humanitarian needs in Sudan are staggering. 5.8 million people, or 15 percent of the population, is in need of humanitarian assistance as a result of conflict, malnutrition, climate hazards or displacement,” said Sophie Battas, Head of Office in Sudan for ECHO.

“EU support to WFP will help humanitarian workers to reach the malnourished and uprooted populations across the country and alleviate their most pressing needs. The European Commission is committed to continue providing needs-based humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable people in Sudan,” Battas said.

The EU has been one of WFP’s major donors in Sudan in recent years. Since 2012, the EU has contributed over €114 million (over US$140 million) in humanitarian aid to WFP operations in Sudan. These contributions enabled WFP to meet the food requirements of the most vulnerable groups in Sudan, especially those affected by conflicts and natural disasters.

“WFP is very grateful to the European Union for its continued support to our operations in Sudan,” said WFP Sudan Representative and Country Director Matthew Hollingworth. “These two contributions will allow us to provide much-needed humanitarian assistance to vulnerable refugees, including young mothers and their children, while enabling us to continue to provide aviation services for the humanitarian community.

Sudan is one of WFP’s most complex operations, with recurring conflict, new and protracted displacement of people, insecurity, and crisis levels of malnutrition and food insecurity. WFP provides food assistance to vulnerable people in Darfur and other food insecure groups in the east and border areas to the south.

In 2017, WFP plans to assist 4.2 million vulnerable people in Sudan through a range of activities, including emergency food and cash-based transfers, nutritional support and resilience-building activities to support communities to become independent. This includes internally displaced people, refugees, El Niño-affected populations and host communities.

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WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. Each year, WFP assists some 80 million people in around 80 countries.

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For more information, please contact:

Abdulaziz Abdulmomin, WFP/Khartoum, Tel. +249 183248001 (ext. 2123), Mob. +249 912167055, email: Abdulaziz.abdulmomin@wfp.org