ROME, Italy, May 8, 2024 – The World Food Programme (WFP), with the support of the European Union (EU), has provided emergency food assistance to nearly 6.4 million people in Sudan since the conflict erupted just over a year ago. This includes around 550,000 people who received cash assistance. This was made possible in part by a EUR €28 million contribution from the EU Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) in 2023. The funding was also used to help treat and prevent malnutrition for 260,000 children and pregnant or nursing women.
Eddie Rowe, WFP Sudan Country Director and Representative, expressed his gratitude towards the EU for their contribution. He said, “Amid escalating conflict and rising hunger, sufficient funding is critical to meet increasing humanitarian needs. We are extremely grateful to the European Union for their contribution, which helped us save lives during this crisis.”
The WFP has warned that Sudan could become the world’s largest hunger crisis during the upcoming lean season, which starts in May and lasts through October. Currently, during the harvest season, a record 17.7 million people already face acute food insecurity, while almost 5 million people are just one step away from starvation (IPC 4). The food security situation is expected to worsen even further in the coming months unless urgent action is taken to support those facing the highest levels of hunger.
In 2024, the EU has mobilized an initial amount of EUR €117 million for the humanitarian response in Sudan, as well as an additional EUR €185 million to respond to the impact of the crisis in neighbouring countries. This new amount comes on top of the European Commission’s humanitarian funding for Sudan in 2023, which totaled EUR €128 million. As the WFP works to scale up its operations to avert the risk of a humanitarian catastrophe, the support of partners such as the EU — one of the most generous partners in Sudan — remains critical to WFP’s efforts.
