.Juba, MINA – The World Food Programme (WFP) announced on Monday that it has successfully air-dropped food aid into remote areas of South Sudan. This critical intervention aims to assist tens of thousands of people affected by armed conflict who are now on the brink of starvation.
The UN agency stated that this aid distribution marks the WFP’s first access in over four months to the Nasir and Ulang areas, some of the most isolated parts of Upper Nile state. These regions are only reachable by air due to land and river routes being blocked by ongoing fighting.
“This distribution marks WFP’s first access to deliver life-saving food and nutrition assistance to more than 40,000 people,” the WFP’s official statement, quoted by Arab News.
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South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, which gained independence in 2011, has been gripped by large-scale violence once again since March, when political tensions between President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar escalated into open conflict.
The WFP warns that over one million people in Upper Nile state are now facing acute hunger. A staggering 32,000 of them are already at “catastrophe” levels of hunger, the highest on the food insecurity scale. This figure has tripled since the latest conflict erupted, triggering waves of mass displacement.
The agency also revealed that fighting has blocked key river routes, which have historically been the most effective aid distribution channels to Upper Nile and northern Jonglei states.
Nationwide, approximately 7.7 million South Sudanese, 57 percent of the total population are currently facing hunger levels classified as “crisis, emergency, or catastrophe.”
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The situation is exacerbated by a severe funding shortfall, which has forced the WFP to only reach 2.5 million of the most vulnerable people with reduced aid rations.
The WFP is now urgently appealing to international donors for additional support. The agency currently requires $274 million to continue its life-saving operations until December 2025. []
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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