JUBA – The Japanese government has announced a $3.2 million contribution to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to provide lifesaving food assistance and school meals across South Sudan.
The donation, announced at a press conference in Juba on Wednesday, will enable WFP to deliver food assistance to over 14,000 people, including crisis-affected populations, refugees and returnees, for a period of six months.
WFP Country Director Mary-Hellen McGroarty says the feeding will help improve school enrolment, attendance and retention rates.
The contribution comes at a critical time, as 7.7 million people in South Sudan face acute food insecurity, and 2.3 million children are at risk of malnutrition.
“This contribution comes when the situation is difficult in South Sudan. The latest IPC that we had shows that 7.7 million people are acutely food insecure,” McGroarty stated.
“That means they cannot guarantee a meal a day on the table for their families. There are others that can barely do it for two days in a row, and then sadly in some parts of the country where you have very conflicts. People are just at very high risk of famine.”
“So our efforts are really focused through the lean season and over the coming months of trying to pull people from that brink.”
In addition, the contribution will support daily school meals for more than 42,000 children, ensuring they have access to at least one meal a day.
WFP said the country continues to face compounding humanitarian challenges including conflict, repeated flooding, and economic instability.
Call for sustained peace
Japan’s top diplomat in South Sudan has called for ceasefire and sustained peace in the country to enable aid agencies to alleviate the suffering of millions facing hunger, flooding and the cholera crisis.
Charge d’ Affairs Oyama Hiromonto reaffirmed that Tokyo is fully committed to supporting South Sudan in food security and agricultural development.
Hiromonto added that such assistance can only be successful when the country takes actions to end hostilities and ensure safe humanitarian access across the country.
“In order for us to fulfill our commitment, we strongly urge all stakeholders to take necessary actions towards ceasefire, sustained peace and stability through dialogue and to ensure the safe humanitarian access across South Sudan so that the food reaches those who need it the most.”