The warning from the World Food Programme that food assistance could be cut for refugees and internally displaced people in South Sudan should concern every citizen, particularly the government, humanitarian agencies, and international partners.<\/p>\n
WFP says that without urgent funding, food assistance for about 240,000 of the most vulnerable refugees could end after September.<\/p>\n
From October, approximately 180,000 internally displaced people could also lose food assistance, while hundreds of thousands living in areas at risk of famine could face further reductions.<\/p>\n
This is not simply about losing a monthly food ration. For families who have already lost their homes, livelihoods, and possessions because of conflict, food assistance is often their last protection against hunger.<\/p>\n
If the assistance stops, the consequences could be devastating. Families may be forced to reduce the number of meals they eat, sell livestock and other productive assets, withdraw children from school, or take on debt simply to survive.<\/p>\n
Women and children could also become more vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, and other forms of protection risks.<\/p>\n
The situation is particularly worrying because South Sudan is already facing extremely high levels of food insecurity. WFP estimates that 7.8 million people are facing acute hunger, while more than 2.2 million children are acutely malnourished.<\/p>\n
So, what happens when humanitarian assistance disappears? The government cannot assume that another organisation will immediately fill the gap. Donor funding is declining, humanitarian needs are increasing, and aid agencies themselves are warning of a serious funding crisis.<\/p>\n
This is therefore the time for the government to take greater responsibility.<\/p>\n
The government should not wait until vulnerable families begin starving before responding. It should work with humanitarian agencies and development partners to mobilise emergency resources, improve food production, and strengthen local markets. More importantly, it must prioritise agriculture and support farmers with seeds, tools, extension services, roads, and access to markets.<\/p>\n
There must also be stronger efforts to create conditions that allow displaced people to return home safely and rebuild their livelihoods. Sustainable peace is ultimately the best alternative to permanent humanitarian dependency.<\/p>\n
But the government cannot do this alone. International donors must urgently maintain humanitarian support because South Sudan’s crisis remains too large for the national government to handle with limited domestic resources.<\/p>\n
WFP says it needs an immediate US$37 million for its refugee response between October and December, while its overall funding shortfall for the remainder of 2026 is US$258 million.<\/p>\n
The alternative, if assistance disappears without replacement, is frightening: deeper hunger, malnutrition, school dropouts, increased exploitation, renewed displacement, and potentially greater pressure on already struggling host communities.<\/p>\n
Therefore, the message to the government is clear: humanitarian assistance is a lifeline today, but peace, agriculture, security, and economic opportunity must become the long-term solution.<\/p>\n
South Sudan must not allow vulnerable refugees and internally displaced citizens to become victims twice; first through conflict and displacement and then through the loss of the assistance that kept them alive.<\/p>\n
The government, donors, and humanitarian partners must act before the food runs out, not after the crisis becomes irreversible.<\/p>\n
God protect South Sudan<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Be the spectator!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The warning from the World Food Programme that food assistance could be cut for refugees and internally displaced people in South Sudan should concern every citizen, particularly the government, humanitarian agencies, and international partners. WFP says that without urgent funding, food assistance for about 240,000 of the most vulnerable refugees[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":45757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89,90,122,80,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columnists","category-commentary","category-nation-talk","category-national","category-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/NATION-TALKS-LOGO-2.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47268"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47269,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47268\/revisions\/47269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}