Funding shortages force drastic cuts to life saving food assistance: WFP

Rome: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned that millions of Sudanese refugees who have fled to neighbouring countries risk plunging de...

Rome:  The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned that millions of Sudanese refugees who have fled to neighbouring countries risk plunging deeper into hunger and malnutrition as critical funding shortages force drastic cuts to life saving food assistance.

WFP urged the international community to mobilise additional resources to sustain food and nutrition assistance for Sudan's refugees and the host communities supporting them.

While WFP quickly mobilized to provide emergency assistance to refugees escaping to seven neighbouring countries, the continued food assistance is quickly exceeding available funding, the UN agency said.

WFP warned that its support to Sudanese refugees may grind to a halt in the coming months as resources run dry, pointing out that WFP needs just over US$200 million to sustain its emergency response for Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries for the next 6 months. An additional $575 million is needed for life-saving operations for the most vulnerable inside Sudan.

"Millions of people who have fled Sudan depend wholly on support from WFP, but without additional funding we will be forced to make further cuts to food assistance. This will leave vulnerable families, and particularly children, at increasingly severe risk of hunger and malnutrition," WFP's Emergency Coordinator for the Sudan Regional Crisis Shaun Hughes said.