The United Nations World Food Programme or WFP welcomed a contribution of 165.5 million US Dollars from the United States Agency for International Development or USAID to feed South Sudanese.
WFP South Sudan Country Director Joyce Luma on Tuesday said the donation would critically allow the Programme to pre-position food before the rainy season.
She warned that without sustained assistance, a humanitarian catastrophe still lurks for millions of people as long as the fighting continues.
The Director said USAID’s latest contribution of food materials to treat malnourished children helps WFP respond to the needs of conflict-affected people and food insecurity in South Sudan.
She said WFP urgently requires 377 million US Dollars for its food aid in South Sudan for the next six months and that another 56 million US Dollars is needed to feed South Sudanese refugees in Kenya, Sudan and Uganda over the same time period.
United States provided around 600 million US Dollars to support WFP’s lifesaving food assistance work in South Sudan since the conflict began.
The latest contribution is part of 273 million US Dollars humanitarian package for agencies in South Sudan that the US State Department announced on February 9.