EU grants €10m in emergency aid to WFP Sudan

December 22, 2021 (KHARTOUM) – The European Union granted an additional 10 million euros in emergency aid to Sudan through the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

The UN humanitarian agency faces an unprecedented funding shortfall of US $358 million to maintain operations in Sudan over the next six months, including prepositioning food ahead of the rainy season.

The WFP on Wednesday welcomed a EUR 10 million contribution from the European Union’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department (ECHO) for life-saving food assistance in Sudan.

The agency already received EUR 13 million at the beginning of 2021.

“The support from the EU could not have come at a more crucial moment, as WFP urgently needs to increase its assistance to meet the basic food needs of more than 9 million people in the coming year,” said Marianne Ward, Acting WFP Representative and Country Director in Sudan.

The WFP, which has been authorized by the transitional government to reach the rebel-held areas in South Kordofan, said there are enormous needs while food stocks and cash would run out in early 2022.

According to the WFP, some 10.9 million people are in need of urgent food security or livelihoods assistance in Sudan, including 1.1 million refugees.

An average of 13.6 per cent of children under the age of five suffer from malnutrition. In some areas, the prevalence of global acute malnutrition is as high as 30 per cent or above – catastrophic levels according to WHO.

Also, the EU contributed EUR 3.5 million to the WFP-managed UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) in Sudan in 2021. The air service transported more than 21,000 humanitarian passengers to 38 hard-to-reach locations to provide life-saving services.

(ST)