Hommam Al Nassim 
Food assistance to hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees in Chad, some on the brink of famine, will cease next month unless more funding is provided, the World Food Programme (WFP) has announced.
Pierre Honorat, WFP Regional Director for Chad, said: “We have already reduced our operations in ways unimaginable just a few years ago, leaving those in need of food on the brink of famine.”
“We need donors to prevent the situation from turning into a full-blown disaster,” Honorat added.
WFP is urgently requesting $242 million to support its operations in the next six months.
Since the conflict erupted in Sudan almost a year ago, more than half a million Sudanese refugees have fled to Chad across the long desert border and the country is now one of Africa’s main refugee areas with a total refugee population of more than one million.
The World Food Programme says it is struggling to provide food to all refugees, many of whom are already not getting their full meals. Nearly half of Sudanese refugees under the age of five suffer from severe anaemia.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said the supply route from Chad to Sudan’s Darfur region, where hunger is worsening, was also at risk due to a lack of funding.
With more resources, WFP may be able to boost food stocks ahead of the rainy season when supplies to some refugees in Chad are cut off due to rising river levels.
Sudan condemns Chad’s intervention and reaffirms its support for Rapid Support Forces