World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday received 40.5 metric tons of high-energy biscuits from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to support people who are fleeing fighting in Sudan.
The emergency food assistance will support 45,000 South Sudanese returnees and Sudanese refugees and returnees upon arrival at reception centers in Renk in Upper Nile State, Aweil in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State, Bentiu in Unity State, and Abyei in the Abyei Administrative Area.
Speaking to reporters at Juba International Airport on Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to South Sudan, Michael J. Adler, said the emergency aid will help the WFP to respond to the humanitarian needs of the people fleeing the conflict in Sudan.
“The commodities we are receiving today constitute just a fraction of the additional resources the U.S. Government is providing in South Sudan alone to help refugees and returnees fleeing conflict in Sudan,” he told the press. “Our total assistance so far is over 30 million dollars which itself is a fraction of about USD 1 billion of assistance we provided to help people in South Sudan.”
“It is in a moment like what is happening in Sudan where USAID provides assistance to help people in need,” Ambassador Adler added.
For her part, Mary Ellen Mc Groarty, WFP’s Representative in South Sudan, hailed the U.S. for the support and said the contribution is critical as thousands of people continue to cross the border each week, most in need of humanitarian assistance.
“It is privileged for me to be standing here again with you ambassador to welcome this additional contribution to WFP in South Sudan,” she said. “I think we can all agree on the events and what is going on next door in Sudan are tragic and we have seen the fallout here in South Sudan and over 190,000 people have already arrived in Renk.”