A woman carrying her family's food ration at a food distribution site in Ulang County Upper Nile State. Photo credit: WFP/Gabriela Vivacqua

The World Food Program has received a donation of 1.3 million US dollars from the French government, as nutritional assistance to more than 20,000 children in South Sudan.

The contribution was announced, a month after the UN agency suspended food assistance to nearly 2 million South Sudanese.

The agency disclosed in June, it had exhausted all options including cutting food ration by half before suspending food assistance to refugees and displaced persons in the country.

However, in a press statement on Wednesday, WFP welcomes the financial contribution, saying it will make a difference.

“WFP welcomes a contribution of USD$1.29 million from France to provide nutrition assistance to thousands of people in South Sudan, where more than 7.74 million people are increasingly hungry after years of conflict, the impact of climate shocks such as flooding and economic crisis,” reads the statement.

The agency revealed it will use the money to provide specialized nutrition assistance for the treatment and prevention of malnutrition in 24,222 children between the age of 6-23 months.

Part of it will be channeled to support the welfare of pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, as well as 25,000 people, who will receive training and awareness-raising sessions in nutrition best practices.

The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report shows that the number of food insecure people has increased in South Sudan from 7.2 million in 2021 to 7 point 74 million in 2022.

It is also estimated that around one – point-34 million children under five will suffer from acute malnutrition, with the most affected states being Jonglei, Upper Nile, Unity and Western Bahr el Ghazal says the agency.

Last year, France contributed 1.2 million US dollars to the UN agency to provide food assistance to South Sudan.