Aid for Sudan refugees under threat without more funding

Funding constraints and rising humanitarian needs could force the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) to halt assistance to more than a million people in Chad many of whom have fled the conflict in Sudan, the UN says.

Sudan's seven-month civil war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has forced more than six million to flee their homes.

Some of those have left the country including 450,000 who have crossed into neighbouring Chad, according to the UN's refugee agency.

"To insure continued support to crisis-affected populations in Chad over the next six months the WFP urgently requires $185m (£150m),” said the UN secretary-general's deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq.

If the UN does not receive the money then in December the WFP would have to suspend food aid to the internally displaced and refugees in Chad, Mr Haq said this week. He added that in January help would then be halted to all those receiving it across Chad and also to any new arrivals from Sudan.

This article originally appeared on BBC News.

Image via Reuters.