Over 650,000 refugees in South Sudan face aid crisis as funding dries up: UN

Benjamin Takpiny

More than 650,000 refugees and asylum seekers in South Sudan are at risk of losing access to vital food, nutrition, and other assistance due to critical funding shortfalls, leaving families who have fled war and hunger with nowhere else to turn, warned UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on Friday.

The two UN agencies said in a joint statement that without immediate and urgent funding, the final food and nutrition assistance for the most vulnerable 240,000 refugees across the country will be provided in September.

“For hundreds of thousands of refugee families, the consequences of an interruption in critical aid would be immediate and long-lasting, including heightened risks of malnutrition, exploitation, and abuse of women and children. Of particular concern to UNHCR is the risk of yet more cross-border movement as people search for food and assistance,” the statement said.

This warning comes as ongoing conflict across the region continues to force people to flee into neighboring countries in search of food, shelter, and safety. In South Sudan, up to 3,000 refugees and returnees continue to arrive from Sudan each week, further straining already overstretched humanitarian resources.

“We are seeing the devastating impact of conflicts that force people from their homes colliding with a severe shortage of resources that is now making the crisis worse,” said Adham Effendi, deputy country director for WFP in South Sudan.

“Urgent support to save lives and livelihoods is vital,” Effendi added.

According to the statement, WFP faces an immediate $37 million funding gap for its refugee response and an overall funding shortfall of $258 million for the remainder of 2026, threatening vital support for 4.2 million food-insecure people across the country.

Meanwhile, UNHCR has secured only 28% of the $286 million needed this year to sustain core protection and assistance for nearly four million refugees, internally displaced persons, returnees, and vulnerable host communities.

“Every week, thousands more refugees and returnees continue to arrive from Sudan with almost nothing, many exhausted, hungry, and in urgent need of protection and assistance,” said Mesfin Degefu, UNHCR deputy representative in South Sudan.

South Sudan has continued to uphold its open-door policy for refugees despite facing significant humanitarian and development challenges of its own. More than 1.4 million refugees and returnees have crossed into South Sudan since war erupted in Sudan in 2023.