U.S. Provides Additional Emergency Food Assistance to Sudan

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), will fund an additional $90.5 million in additional emergency food aid to help feed the most vulnerable people in Sudan. This donation comes in addition to previous contributions of $92.2 million in fiscal year 2007, bringing the total level of U.S. Government funding for the World Food Program (WFP) in Sudan and Eastern Chad to $182.7 million thus far this fiscal year.

The recent contribution will provide 93,660 metric tons of cereal and non- cereal commodities to the WFP operation in Sudan, which supplies food aid for up to 3 million people in the Darfur region of Sudan and 220,000 Sudanese refugees in Chad. Approximately 80 percent of these resources will be given to vulnerable communities in Darfur and 20 percent to populations in South, Central and Eastern Sudan.

Although violence and insecurity in Darfur have prevented food aid distributions from reaching nearly a quarter million people, WFP operations continue to reach more than 90 percent of targeted beneficiaries.

“This contribution comes at a critical point for the people of Darfur and will help ensure that humanitarian assistance continues to reach the most vulnerable communities in the region,” said Michael E. Hess, Assistant Administrator for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance at USAID.

The United States remains WFP’s largest donor in Sudan, providing half of WFP’s 2006 worldwide appeal and two-thirds of all contributions received by WFP for their Sudan operation worldwide. In fiscal year 2006, USAID provided 475,910 metric tons of food valued at $458 million to WFP and the International Committee of the Red Cross operations in Sudan and eastern Chad.

Sudan is USAID’s largest program in Sub-Saharan Africa, totaling over an estimated $720 million in fiscal year 2006. The complex program provides extensive humanitarian aid to vulnerable people in Southern and Eastern Sudan and Darfur, as well as extensive reconstruction assistance in the south, Abyei, Blue Nile, and Southern Kordofan.

For more information about USAID programs in Sudan, visit our web site at: http://www.usaid.gov/locations/sub-saharan_africa/sudan/index.html

Public Information: 202-712-4810

Source: U.S. Agency for International Development

CONTACT: U.S. Agency for International Development Press Office,

+1-202-712-4320
Web site: http://www.usaid.gov/