Highlights
Phase III scale-up in full swing in Northern Bahr el Ghazal
- WFP and UNHCR to sign a MOU for cash-based transfers in the Makpandu refugee camp
- Lengthy tax exemption processes hamper road deliveries of life-saving nutrition commodities from Kenya and Uganda.
Highlights
Approximately 189,000 beneficiaries have received life-saving food assistance in Northern Bahr el Ghazal since early August.
WFP and its partners plan to respond to the immediate food and nutrition needs of some 840,000 beneficiaries during this third phase of the scale-up. Over 1,900 mt have been airdropped in NBEG. Meanwhile, WFP and UNICEF are working to ensure effective treatment of severe and moderately acute malnutrition cases. WFP is also coordinating with cluster leads for a strengthened multi-sector intervention.
In coordination with the UNHCR, WFP will introduce cash-based transfers in the Makpandu refugee camp (Western Equatoria state), which would essentially shift the general food distributions modality from in-kind to vouchers. The strategic introduction of CBT will allow for greater choice for beneficiaries while stimulating trade in local markets. Refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic have been in the area since 2008/9. Since then, basic social amenities and infrastructures have been established that benefit both refugees and host communities. The Makpandu refugee camp is host to some 4,000 refugees.
Despite the resumption of dispatches by road from the Southern Corridor (ex-Kenya and Uganda), the lack of tax exemptions has left 27 trucks unable to cross the Nimule entry border. For one month now, WFP has been doing all means necessary to secure the tax exemption. The trucks are loaded with ready-to-use supplementary foods to help mitigate acute malnutrition.