U.S announces extra $100 million in aid for South Sudan

By Awan Achiek

The United States on Wednesday announced that it is providing $100 million in additional aid for South Sudan.

The funds would be used to purchase nearly 42,000 metric tons of food aid to assist approximately one million people experiencing acute food insecurity in the country.

This additional life-saving humanitarian assistance – was made possible through a partnership between USAID and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

A joint statement from the U.S. Embassy in Juba and USAID, issued on Wednesday in Juba, said this funding will bring the total of the U.S. humanitarian assistance to South Sudan to nearly $609 million in Fiscal Year 2024.

 It said this will help to urgently address the humanitarian crisis in the country faced with devastating floods and insecurity.

“This includes the transitional government doing its part and transparently allocating use of public revenue for humanitarian response and to address other basic public needs,” it said.

The U.S urged the transitional government to address the unacceptably high safety and security risks faced by UN agencies, NGO partners, and local communities to ease delivery of aid to affected populations.

The aid announcement came following the visit of the USAID Assistant to the Administrator for Humanitarian Assistance, Sonali Korde to South Sudan from 9 to 11 September.

While in the country, She visited key humanitarian project sites and met with senior officials, diplomatic missions, the leadership of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), and implementing partners.

South Sudan is said to be one of the world’s most dangerous countries for humanitarian aid workers, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).