World Food Programme Aids South Sudan Refugees

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) last evening  welcomed
a $10 million contribution from the government of the United
States of America in support of refugees in Uganda, including the new
arrivals from South Sudan.

“This contribution comes at a critical time, when WFP’s resources are
being stretched to respond to the influx of refugees into the country,
many of whom are fleeing the conflict in South Sudan,” said the Country
Representative, Alice Martin-Daihirou. “It will enable WFP to meet the
immediate needs of 140,000 people over the next five months, as they
start to cultivate food on land that the government provides them.”

With this funding, WFP will buy maize grain, maize meal, beans, salt,
sorghum and fortified blended foods from Uganda and within the region.
The food will be distributed as monthly rations to refugees in nine
settlements in Uganda as well as being used to provide hot meals at
six transit centres.  Most arrive at the transit centres hungry and
exhausted and the WFP assistance is often the first full hot meal they
have eaten after several days or weeks on the road.

With more than 100,000 South Sudanese having crossed the border into
Uganda since mid-December, the ongoing conflict is stretching the
capacity of the Ugandan government and the humanitarian community to
meet their needs. Refugees continue to enter Uganda from eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and 40,000 from DRC will benefit
from this new funding.  Overall, WFP is currently supporting an
estimated 295,000 refugees in Uganda in collaboration with the Office
of the Prime Minister and the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees.

The United States is the largest funder of WFP’s relief and recovery
programmes in Uganda, contributing $20.5 million in 2014.  This is
in addition to separate funding for WFP’s development activities for
agriculture and market support.

WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger
worldwide. Last year, WFP reached more than 97 million people in 80
countries with food assistance.