U.S. food and cash contribution boosts WFP response to vulnerable people in Sudan
KHARTOUM – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomed today cash and in-kind donations from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) worth US$86 million to support more than 2.5 million people in Sudan’s Darfur and in North Kordofan and West Kordofan states.
The in-kind contribution of mixed food items worth US$75 million will meet the food needs of more than 2 million people, including displaced people, school children and vulnerable households in Darfur and central and eastern Sudan, for up to five months. WFP will include the food donation of sorghum, lentils and oil in food rations to almost 100,000 South Sudanese hosted in camps in Sudan’s White Nile state.
The complementary cash contribution of US$11 million will allow WFP to provide cash and vouchers assistance to almost half a million people across Darfur, for up to four months. Part of the funds will also be used to buy 103 metric tons of specialized nutritious foods for the prevention of malnutrition among 37,000 displaced children and pregnant and nursing mothers across the three states.
“This combination of cash and in-kind food contribution gives us the flexibility we need to offer the most appropriate form of assistance to all those we support in a timely and efficient manner” said WFP Sudan Representative and Country Director Adnan Khan.
“The United States has been WFP’s long-standing partner in Sudan, enabling the agency to provide life-saving food to conflict-affected people and other vulnerable groups.”
“The American people, this time working through WFP, remain committed to helping vulnerable Sudanese. We hope that current conflict ceases soon so there will no longer be need for food assistance in Sudan,” said U.S. Chargé d’Affaires, Ambassador Jerry Lanier.
The United States is the largest single donor to WFP Sudan, contributing up to 45 percent of the organization’s operational requirements in the country. The United States has provided more than US$170 million in food assistance to the Sudanese people since January 2015.
In the second half of 2015, WFP will assist 3.5 million people including 1.8 million displaced people. WFP aims to reach all of them with life-saving food assistance and nutrition programmes, as well as recovery and resilience-building activities that help communities become self-reliant.
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About USAID: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is the lead U.S. Government agency that works to end extreme global poverty and enable resilient, democratic societies to realize their potential. For more information, please visit: https://www.usaid.gov
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https:www.facebook.com/khartoum.usembassy
About WFP: 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. For more information, please visit: www.wfp.org or Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @wfp_media @wfp_mena
For more information please contact (email address: [email protected]):
Amor Almagro, WFP/Khartoum, Tel. +249 183248001 (ext. 2114),
Mob. +249 912174853
Abdulaziz Abdulmomin, WFP/Khartoum, Tel. +249 183248001 (ext. 2123),
Mob. +249912167055
U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Section, Tel. +249 187022000; http://sudan.usembassy.gov