Asunta Adeng Akuith harvesting rice at Mathiang rice farm, Warrap. Credit: WFP/Kevin Gitonga

The government of Norway has pledged an additional USD 12.7 million funding to the WFP to support emergency assistance and efforts that strengthen community resilience.

In a statement dated December 27, Åsmund Aukrust, the Norwegian Minister of International Development, said the funding will support the strengthening of life-saving work of WFP.

Describing the hunger situation as dramatic, Aukrust noted six million people do not have food and need assistance.

He pledged that Norway will continue to contribute to stabilising the situation, “by providing emergency assistance and supporting longer-term efforts to make the population less vulnerable to hunger in the future.”

According to UN agencies, conflict, climate change, and economic collapse are some of the problems that reinforce each other in South Sudan.

This has created an increasingly challenging situation for ordinary South Sudanese people.

Norway has for many years been one of WFP’s key partners in South Sudan. The new agreement ensures that emergency aid reaches the most vulnerable, while also supporting long-term measures to build resilience in local communities.