Citizens of the state of Sudan are receiving cash and food support in order to transform individuals lives funded by the EU and provided by the World Food Programme (WFP).
The European Commission states that cash assistance is increasingly becoming a preferred method of humanitarian assistance, economically empowering families, and supporting local markets and trade.
The funding of supplementary food and cash helps save the lives of those in South Sudan by easing the impact of food insecurity they experience.
Phyllis Wanja states that “with cash assistance, the people we are aiming to support can get what they actually need and based on what their priorities are” essentially giving them the freedom and responsibility.
How is the support changing lives?
Many humanitarian organisations have published individual stories of those who have received support highlighting the impact it has on their daily lives.
Abuk Garang, one individual receiving food and cash support, says “this assistance has really helped me a lot. Without it, life would be very difficult”.
She concentrated on her upcoming harvest and providing food for her family, with the cash assistance Abuk is able to buy some of her family’s favourite foods due to the given independence she has to buy what she needs and wants.
One female citizen who received the cash assistance said, “I will buy cooking pots, plates, cups, and some mats for my family with this money”.
Another stated that she “will buy some shading to fix the roof of the room where we are staying, and also buy pots, cooking utensils and some buckets for water” displaying differing ways in which individuals had chosen to send their cash assistance.
With the extent of the funding, 5.3 million Sudanese people have been provided livelihood assistance between April to September of this year, leaving room for further future support.