World Bank to donate $100 million to help Sudan food security

Funds to be funnelled through UN's World Food Programme

A boy rides his donkey in the village of Al Laota, south-west of Sudan's capital Khartoum. The WFP estimated that the number of people experiencing crisis and emergency levels of hunger will reach 18 Show more

The World Bank is to donate $100 million towards the UN's World Food Programme to help address food insecurity in Sudan.

It called the donation a “emergency safety net project” in a statement on Thursday.

The programme, which is funded by the EU, UK, Saudi Arabia and several other Western nations, was set up to provide two million Sudanese with cash transfers and food.

After a coup in October, the World Bank suspended its disbursements for operations in Sudan. Funds from the projects will be funnelled through the WFP directly, it said.

“While funding under agreements signed with the government of Sudan remains paused, development partners are pleased to provide direct support to the Sudanese people during this critical time,” said the World Bank's country director Ousmane Dione.

The WFP this year estimated that the number of people experiencing crisis and emergency levels of hunger will reach 18 million by September in Sudan, a country of about 45 million.