UK Helps Hungry & Conflict-Affected In Sudan

The UK is committed to standing by the millions of people in Sudan who are in dire need of humanitarian assisstance. Our new contribution will support the work WFP is doing to develop new approaches which are more cost effective. The cash voucher programme, which our contribution will support, is transforming the way we deliver asssistance – giving people choice and supporting local markets. We urge other donors to also step up and not forget the millions of people in Sudan who continue to suffer from the appalling ongoing violence.

First introduced in Sudan in January 2011, the vouchers programme offers families a wide variety of food items which cater to local taste.  These include sorghum, rice, millet, groundnut oil, sun-dried tomato and okra, lentils, eggs and meat.   The vouchers also boost the local economy, helping to stimulate local markets by engaging traders who buy from farmers in Darfur and from markets in Khartoum, El Obeid and Kassala.   

“WFP Sudan is grateful for this contribution from the Government of the United Kingdom as it comes at a time when we are planning for our operations in 2015.  This will ensure that vulnerable people in Sudan will continue to receive the life-saving support they require over a sustained period of time.  This is especially critical in conflict-affected regions such as Darfur where millions of people remain displaced,” said WFP Country Director, Adnan Khan.   

In 2015, WFP plans to reach some 646,000 beneficiaries across Sudan through a vouchers programme that will amount to US$ 60 million, a 30 percent increase on its size in 2014.

The United Kingdom is one of WFP’s strongest supporters in Sudan, having already contributed GBP 2.9 million (US4.8 million) earlier this year in support of the agency’s vouchers programme and another GBP 700,000 (US$1.1 million) in support of the emergency food response to the South Sudanese refugees in South Kordofan and White Nile states. In total, the UK has contributed some GBP 17.7 (US$28.7 million) to WFP programmes in Sudan in 2014, making it the agency’s second largest bilateral donor.

WFP is currently providing assistance to more than 4 million people throughout Sudan, 15 percent of whom receive support in the form of cash vouchers.   

 

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WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. In 2013, WFP assisted more than 80 million people in 75 countries.

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For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):

Amor Almagro, WFP/Khartoum, Tel. +249 183248001 (ext. 2114), Mob. +249 912174853

Abdulaziz Abdulmomin, WFP/Khartoum, Tel. +249 183248001 (ext. 2123), Mob. +249 912167055