UK Supports WFP’s Innovative Help For Displaced People In Darfur

This timely funding will contribute to WFP’s cash and voucher programme in Darfur which currently benefits 300,000 displaced people.  Households involved in the programme will be able to purchase a range of basic foods including flour, oil, pulses, sugar, dried okra and tomatoes. Such assistance not only offers recipients greater choice, but also supports the local market through participating traders.

“More than ten years on from the start of the conflict, British aid still has a vital role to play in helping to save lives, especially with hostilities increasing in recent months. With so many having been forced from their homes and now reliant on food aid for their survival, we cannot turn a blind eye,” the UK’s International Development (DFID) Minister Lynne Featherstone said. “The Government of Sudan also needs to do their part.  Aid workers must have free, fair and safe access to do their job and the people of Darfur need peace so that they can rebuild their lives.”  

WFP will use part of the contribution to cover transportation costs for delivering much-needed cereals to another 250,000 displaced people and other vulnerable groups in Darfur.

The UK is one of WFP’s largest donors in Sudan, having contributed some US$70 million (GB£44 million) to operations there since 2010.  This generosity has enabled WFP to deliver life-saving assistance to conflict-affected populations across Sudan  including in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan States.

“Britain is already a major contributor to our emergency operation in Sudan and this latest donation reflects its dedication to assisting people in need. It will directly help save lives as well as restoring livelihoods for vulnerable groups,” said WFP Sudan Country Director Adnan Khan.

 

In 2013, WFP plans to provide assistance to 3.9 million people across Sudan, of whom 2.9 million are in Darfur. The assistance takes various forms,  including an innovative vouchers programme which benefits more than 700,000 people throughout the country.  

The nature of the 10-year conflict in Darfur has changed with inter and intra-tribal clashes intensifying since January this year. In 2013, over 300,000 people in the region have been displaced, increasing the needs which require humanitarian response.  The UK contribution means that WFP, one of the biggest agencies in Darfur, can meet these needs.

Sudan remains one of WFP’s largest and most complex operations, providing food assistance to people affected by conflict, displacement and chronic under-nourishment in Darfur, as well as in the east and border areas to the south.  

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WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.  Last year, WFP reached more than 97 million people in 80 countries with food assistance.

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Abdulaziz Abdulmomin, WFP/Khartoum, Tel: 0912167055, email: Abdulaziz.abdulmomin@wfp.org

Sophie Wood, British Embassy, Khartoum, Tel:  0912306904, email:  Sophie.wood@fco.gov.uk  

For more information on UK in Sudan:

www.ukinsudan.fco.gov.uh/en/     and   www.facebook.com/ukinsudan