The European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Kristalina Georgieva, and the Executive director of the World Food Program (WFP) Josette Sheeran have presented this year's largest funding agreement between the European Commission and the World Food Programme (WFP). The €46 million agreement announced will be used to provide immediate food assistance for the populations in Darfur and Southern Sudan.

The Commission’s main objective is to save lives and support livelihoods in the conflict-affected areas of Sudan. ECHO funding is destined for programmes primarily targeting nutritionally vulnerable women and children, internally displaced people and drought-affected populations.

The aid will primarily be used to support general food distributions and to provide supplementary feeding rations. This contribution will enable the World Food Program (WFP) to restock its warehouses and to reach out to the more than 4 million people in Darfur and 4.3 million people in South Sudan who are in desperate need of food assistance.

ECHO’s allocation of €46 million is part of its 2010 Global Plan for Sudan, worth €114 million. Last year, ECHO announced this help plan, which will also help other 11 African countries.

The humanitarian crisis in Sudan remains complex as internal and cross-border conflicts persist, leaving the population increasingly vulnerable to food insecurity. In Darfur millions of people remain dependent on humanitarian food assistance as sporadic fighting continues to threaten the prospects of recovery and development in the region.

In Darfur, the ongoing effort by the humanitarian community to bring relief to millions of people (internally displaced, local villagers and nomads) faces enormous challenges. Access to people in need by aid workers has become ever more hazardous because of a general lack of security in the area. Recently, a delegation of MEPs went to Sudan to observe the Sudanese elections.