The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned of an imminent hunger crisis on the border between Sudan and South Sudan as families fleeing the conflict in Sudan continue to cross the borders.
In a press statement on Tuesday, WFP reported that data collected indicates that “of the nearly 300,000 people who have arrived in South Sudan in the past five months, one in five children is suffering from malnutrition, and 90% of households say they go several days without eating.”
The statement clarified that almost all those who crossed the borders since the outbreak of the conflict in Sudan in mid-April are from South Sudan, returning to a country already facing unprecedented humanitarian needs.
A new assessment of food security by the WFP reveals that 90% of returning households are experiencing either moderate or severe food insecurity.
Examination data collected at the border crossing shows that nearly 20% of children under the age of five and more than a quarter of pregnant and lactating women suffer from malnutrition.
From danger to despair
The Country Director of the WFP in South Sudan, Mary Ellen McGroarty, stated, “We are seeing families leave one disaster for another as they flee danger in Sudan only to find despair in South Sudan.”
She emphasized that the humanitarian situation for returnees is “unacceptable,” noting that the WFP struggles to meet the increasing humanitarian needs at the border.
McGroarty added, “We simply do not have the resources to provide life-saving assistance to those who need it most.”
The WFP reported that the rainy season has made conditions at crowded transit centers and border crossings more difficult, with floods worsening food insecurity and contributing to the spread of diseases.
Many families have reported being robbed and subjected to violence while fleeing the war in Sudan and crossing the border into South Sudan with nothing but the clothes they are wearing.
Funding gap
The WFP stated that it provides food assistance to meet the immediate needs of families at the border but urgently requires over $120 million to increase support for those fleeing the war in Sudan to South Sudan in the coming months.
Additionally, there is a need for substantial resources to help people transition from the crowded border area and support them in rebuilding their lives in South Sudan, where many returnees have not actually lived.
The WFP confirmed that it faces a funding gap of $536 million throughout South Sudan over the next six months and has been able to provide food assistance to only 40% of those experiencing food insecurity in 2023.
Moreover, those receiving aid receive only half of the recommended rations due to the funding shortfall, deepening the food security crisis.