UN Warns of Aid Halt for South Sudan Refugees Amid Funding Shortfall

The United Nations warned that food and nutrition assistance for 240,000 vulnerable refugees in South Sudan could cease in September due to a critical funding shortfall.

This cutoff would affect the last remaining refugees of the 650,000 who had been receiving food support across the country. The World Food Programme (WFP) and UNHCR refugee agency stated that without immediate funding, this lifeline will be cut. Up to 3,000 refugees and returnees from Sudan arrive weekly, straining humanitarian resources. Adham Effendi, WFP's deputy country director for South Sudan, described a painful gap between human suffering and available resources.

Additionally, food assistance for approximately 180,000 internally displaced people is set to end in October. Overall, 7.8 million people in South Sudan face acute food insecurity, and 2.2 million children are acutely malnourished. WFP requires $37 million for its refugee response and faces a $258 million shortfall for the rest of 2026, impacting support for 4.2 million food-insecure people.

UNHCR has secured only 28 percent of its $286 million requirement for the year. The escalating violence across South Sudan, with clashes between government and opposition forces in Jonglei, Upper Nile, and Unity states, has also increased intercommunal violence. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported a more than 50 percent rise in admissions for gunshot wounds in the first six months of 2026 compared to 2025, with four mass casualty incidents treated this year.