Attachments
HIGHLIGHTS
• In January WFP distributed 4,724 mt of food and USD 241,000 in cash-based transfers to 500,000 people, representing 45 percent of the people targeted during the month.
• Recent hostilities near the Sudan-South Sudan border have driven 136,000 new arrivals into South Sudan since December, exacerbating the humanitarian situation at the reception and transit centres in Renk. Critical needs include water, health, nutrition, sanitation and hygiene.
• WFP faces a critical funding shortfall of USD 412 million to support the urgent humanitarian needs of millions of crisis-affected people in 2025 against its operational plan. Critical needs include requirements to meet the food and nutrition needs of crisis-affected people, food prepositioning before the rainy season starts in May, and other common logistical support services.
**SITUATION UPDATE • South Sudan is facing multiple crises, including subnational violence, economic instability and food insecurity, pushing millions of families towards unprecedented levels of insecurity, humanitarian, economic and political vulnerability.
• The country is grappling with a long-standing humanitarian crisis marked by chronic food and nutrition insecurity, worsened by the severe economic downturn and climatic shocks. The ongoing Sudan conflict has compounded the situation by driving over 1 million people into South Sudan.
• About 9.3 million people require humanitarian assistance in 2025, an increase of 300,000 in 2024. Over 1.8 million people remain internally displaced due to years of violence and the impact of climate change, including floods and dry spells.
• The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) results released in November showed that 6.1 million people are facing acute food insecurity levels, at Crisis or higher, between December 2024 and March 2025. The situation could worsen, with projections showing that 7.7 million people will face acute food insecurity during the 2025 lean season. Of the 7.7 million, 2.5 million people will face Emergency levels of food insecurity, and 63,000 will face Catastrophe levels of food insecurity. Malnutrition rates continue to surge, with 3.2 million children and women at risk of malnutrition, representing a 28 percent increase compared to 2024.
• The September – December 2024 flooding impacted 1.4 million people across 44 counties in all the states, including displacing 379,000 people.
• South Sudan has been grappling with a cholera outbreak since last October 2024. The Ministry of Health has reported 22,000 cases and over 400 fatalities in 33 counties by 31 January, including Renk County, the primary entry point for new arrivals for Sudan.
• The macroeconomic situation has deteriorated since the outbreak of the Sudan conflict. The damage to the oil pipeline through Sudan has reduced oil exports and foreign exchange inflows, and triggered exchange rate depreciation in the parallel market. The South Sudan Pound (SSP) has depreciated by 84 percent (from SSP 880 to SSP 5,500) since April 2023, triggering the high cost of imported food items. The monthly average standard food basket cost has increased by 434 percent since April 2023, exacerbating the vulnerability of poor households, including the new arrivals.