EU To Increase Food Aid For South Sudan

The European Commission signed two major contracts totaling 14 million euros (about 19 million U.S. dollars) Thursday to deliver vitally needed food assistance and facilitate humanitarian actions in South Sudan, the block said in a statement.
The contracts, signed between the EU and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), will help approximately 1.7 million people, according to the statement.
"By signing these contracts now with the WFP, our biggest partner in food aid, we will save the lives of many South Sudanese people," said Kristalina Georgieva, the European Union Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response.
"We are very grateful for this latest contribution from the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil protection department ECHO, one of our strongest supporters, to help us expanding our life-saving work in the face of a hunger catastrophe," said Ertharin Cousin, WFP Executive Director.
WFP's efforts, including the deployment of rapid relief mobile teams into remote areas, organizing barges to carry food along the Nile, as well as using airdrops, have provided vital support to more than 1.4 million people in June, said Cousin.
According to the contracts, almost 6 tons of food will be distributed, and vouchers or cash will be given to the needy people to buy foods from local markets. At the same time, 5 million euros will support logistics to transport life-saving supplies to the most vulnerable in remote parts of the country.
The humanitarian situation in South Sudan has been critical ever since armed violence broke out in the capital of Juba on 15 December 2013 and subsequently spread to several states in South Sudan. More than 1.1 million people have been internally displaced and over 400,000 have sought refuge in neighboring countries.
The UN has declared South Sudan a "Level Three" crisis, the highest category for a humanitarian crisis. (Cihan/Xinhua)