U.N. appeals for more than $500M in emergency aid for South Sudan; WFP says $360M shortfall to address food insecurity in Sahel

The U.N. is calling for $505 million in emergency aid for the people of South Sudan, with the bulk of the funding going "toward providing food to tens of thousands of South Sudanese, many of whom are returning home from Sudan," VOA News reports (Doki, 5/15). "It is uncertain whether the appeal will be fully funded, given the status of last year's humanitarian appeal," Devex writes, noting that "[o]nly one-third of the nearly $800 million appeal in 2011 has been funded as of May 16" (Ravelo, 5/16). Lisa Grande, the U.N. humanitarian aid program coordinator in South Sudan, "said the amount of food needed for the region has doubled compared to last year," according to VOA (5/15).

In a separate article, VOA News reports that the "U.N. World Food Programme [WFP] said time is running out to prevent the full impact of the food crisis in Africa's Sahel region," as "a donor funding shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars could soon affect emergency aid programs." According to the news service, WFP West Africa spokesperson Malik Triki said, "This operation costs at least $790 million. And we still have a shortfall of around $360 million. Obviously, many, many countries and many donors have come forward and helped us, but we still have that shortfall. And we urgently need more donors to come forward to help us plug that shortfall" (DeCapua, 5/15).