The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has sounded a dire warning over the future of humanitarian aid for millions of Sudanese refugees, citing critical funding shortages that threaten to halt life-saving food assistance in multiple countries.
According to a WFP alert issued Monday, dwindling global humanitarian support could soon force the agency to implement “drastic cuts” to food supplies for refugees who have fled Sudan’s ongoing conflict. Operations in the Central African Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Libya are especially at risk of grinding to a halt within months unless new funds are urgently secured.
More than two years into a devastating war between Sudan’s national army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, the humanitarian toll continues to worsen. Chad currently shelters nearly a quarter of the estimated four million Sudanese who have fled the violence. WFP has already warned that without additional funding, food rations in the country will be slashed in the coming months.
In Uganda, the situation is particularly bleak. Many vulnerable refugees are surviving on fewer than 500 calories per day, less than a quarter of the minimum daily nutritional requirement. This has placed enormous pressure on already fragile refugee support systems.
Children are among the hardest hit. Malnutrition rates in reception centers in Uganda and South Sudan have surpassed emergency thresholds. WFP reports that many young refugees are already severely malnourished upon arrival, making immediate intervention crucial.
“This is a full-blown regional crisis that’s playing out in countries that already have extreme levels of food insecurity and high levels of conflict,” said Shaun Hughes, WFP Emergency Coordinator for the Sudan Regional Crisis. “Millions of people who have fled Sudan depend wholly on support from WFP. Without additional funding, we will be forced to make further cuts to food assistance, leaving vulnerable families, especially children, at increasing risk of hunger and malnutrition.”
WFP is urgently appealing for donor countries and partners to step in with increased contributions to avert a deepening humanitarian disaster in the region.
Written By Rodney Mbua
