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WFP South Sudan Situation Report #282, 15 January 2021

Countries
South Sudan
Sources
WFP
Publication date

In Numbers

7.24 million people facing acute food insecurity from April to July 2021 (IPC)

1.9 million acutely malnourished women and children (IPC)

1.35 million people assisted by WFP in November 2020

1.47 million internally displaced people (OCHA)

2.2 million South Sudanese refugees (UNHCR)

Highlights

• WFP reached more than 5.2 million people in South Sudan with food and nutrition assistance across emergency, nutrition and livelihoods programmes in 2020.

• WFP disbursed more than USD 50 million in cash based transfers, boosting the local economy and supporting people to purchase their preferred foods.

• WFP continued to support local farmers purchasing 13,000 tons of food grown in South Sudan at a value of USD 4.4 million.

• A total of 640 kilometres of road were made passable thanks to the work carried out by WFP and partners.

Situation Update

• On 22 December, 542 tons of food destined for WFP South Sudan was looted in Sudan after a convoy of 51 trucks was ambushed close to the Abyei box in West Kordofan State. The food looted is enough to feed over 65,000 people for one month and is a significant loss for WFP.
WFP is liaising with the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), the Abyei Joint Oversight Committee (AJOC), the Sudan Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) as well as the community in the area to understand what happened and how we can ensure we can mitigate such incidents in the future.

• In Warrap, WFP food distributions are on hold in Tonj East as a result of insecurity and access challenges. The situation is being monitored closely and distributions will commence as soon as the situation allows.
In Tonj North, an improvement in the security situation enabled distributions in some areas this week while distributions continued in Tonj South.

• In Upper Nile, the security situation in Maban continues to deteriorate. The United Nations Department for Safety and Security (UNDSS) security status in Maban was elevated from green to grey on 06 January 2021. Over 15,000 South Sudanese people have been displaced by the violence and are currently sheltering in three camps hosting Sudanese refugees. WFP is providing assistance to meet the immediate needs of the internally displaced people (IDPs). Humanitarian partners are advocating for an end to the violence so that people can return to their homes.

• WFP is grateful to New Zealand for their contribution of USD 1.4 million. The contribution is fully flexible enabling WFP to respond with agility across the country.