Many children of Sudanese refugees living in Yida in northern Unity State are malnourished, with latest survey data showing that the figure is now nearly 10%, in spite of regular food distributions.

In an operational update covering the second half of September, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported that a survey of Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) was carried out in the camp to assess malnutrition. 8,649 children under age 5 were screened.

The results showed that 76 of the screened children (0.9%) had severe malnutrition and 764 (8.8%) had moderate malnutrition, according to the UN agency report.

“The latter represents an increase compared to August, when the rate of moderate malnutrition was

4.5 per cent. A number of factors may explain such an increase, including higher incidence of malaria and insufficient food. An in-depth analysis of trends is underway to ascertain the possible causes and design appropriate actions.”

Separately, Radio Tamazuj was informed last month of the looting of a WFP warehouse near to Yida, by suspected host community members, but the UN agency downplayed the incident saying it has not affected ration levels.

“There was a theft incident on 4 September 2015 when thieves broke into a storage facility in Adjoung Thok and stole a small quantity of commodities – about 13 bags of sorghum and some boxes of nutritious food supplements,” explained George Fominyen, WFP spokesman.

“Some of the stolen commodities were recovered in the nearby bushes as security guards at the warehouse chased the thieves. This theft case was reported to the Police and other local authorities. The incident has not had an impact on the distributions to refugees. WFP has continued providing regular monthly food distributions to refugees,” he added.

According to UNHCR, aid group Samaritan's Purse distributed monthly food rations brought by the UN WFP to 29,201 refugees in Ajuong Thok while in Yida 66,844 people attended the September general food distribution.  

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