JUBA, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said Thursday it has received an additional 4.5 million U.S. dollars contribution to provide humanitarian support to more than 7 million South Sudanese who are food insecure.
Simon Cammelbeeck, WFP's acting country director in South Sudan, said the new funding from Germany will also enable the UN Humanitarian Air Service to keep providing flights for the humanitarian community.
"It will allow us to preposition food ahead of the rainy season and deliver timely assistance to the people in need while giving the entire humanitarian community a reliable airlink across the country," Cammelbeeck said in a joint statement issued in Juba.
He said the new funding will be used to provide food and nutrition assistance to vulnerable people, including the displaced and children under the age of two across the country.
The UN agency said it assisted 5.1 million people in 2018, providing food assistance for people building or restoring community assets such as roads, emergency school meals to keep children in school and the treatment of moderate acute malnutrition among children and pregnant and nursing women.
WFP also provided air transport services which it manages to 300 humanitarian organizations across the country.
The UN agency said it is preparing to respond to needs resulting from a poor agricultural season last year worsened by continued conflict.
Jan Hendrik van Thiel, ambassador of Germany to South Sudan, said his country is committed to working together with WFP and other humanitarian agencies to help some of the most vulnerable people in South Sudan.
"Alongside humanitarian assistance to South Sudan, Germany will continue to support recovery and resilience building activities that will help the country become a food secure nation in the long term," said the envoy.
