Millions Face Starvation After U.N. Program Cuts Funding to South Sudan

Millions Face Starvation , After U.N.

Program Cuts Funding , to South Sudan .

'The Guardian' reports that the World Food Program has suspended food aid to 1.7 million people in South Sudan.

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The decision was reportedly driven by the war in Ukraine as the price of necessary staples has skyrocketed.

Originally, the U.N.'s emergency food assistance agency planned to deliver aid to over 6 million acutely food-insecure people in South Sudan.

The WFP said it will now have to prioritize 4.5 million of the most vulnerable in order to prevent them from dying of starvation.

It’s a drastic cut because it’s a third of the total of people that we know require food assistance, but we had to do a kind of triage, if you will, Marwa Awad, WFP spokesperson, via 'The Guardian'.

We had to decide who to keep assisting and who we can afford to suspend the assistance from – not because they’re not in need but because they can survive, Marwa Awad, WFP spokesperson, via 'The Guardian'.

The remaining 1.7 million people will consequently be cut off from support and aid.

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They are food insecure.

And if aid is not given to support them, they will slide further down the scale of hunger and reach starvation level, Marwa Awad, WFP spokesperson, via 'The Guardian'.

Included in the cuts are free school meals for 178,000 of the crisis-plagued country's poorest children.

According to the WFP, an extra $426 million would be needed to provide food assistance for the next six months.