Thaindian News

ROME (BNO NEWS) – The European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, will give a €45 million funding to the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide immediate food assistance for the populations in Darfur and Southern Sudan, Kristalina Georgieva, the European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, announced on Monday.

The €45 million funding represents the largest funding agreement between the EU and the WFP. It is part of the 2010 Global Plan for Sudan which is worth €114 million.

“Humanitarian needs have increased dramatically in Sudan, so additional funding is vital. I am deeply concerned about the situation of civilians affected by the recent fighting in some areas of South Darfur, particularly Jebel Marra, and parts of West Darfur. Several thousands of people have been displaced and urgently need our assistance and, worryingly, humanitarian agencies have no access to them,” Georgieva said.

More than 4 million people in Darfur and 4.3 million people in South Sudan are in desperate need of food assistance. The Commission’s main objective is to save lives and support families in the areas of Sudan affected by armed conflicts.

In Southern Sudan, political and ethnic tensions have led to an upsurge of violent conflicts, threatening the relative peace experienced in the region since the end of an over two decades-long civil war in 2005.