Co-implemented by Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) and the World Food Programme (WFP), the initiative involves delivering 187 tonnes of popular food items such as maize, cereals and vegetable oil, QRCS said in a press statement.
The food supplies were procured from neighbouring countries and stored at WFP's warehouses, in co-ordination with the local authorities.
The first batch of aid was airdropped by United Nations aircraft to the worst-hit, inaccessible areas, where a team of WFP is stationed to collect and distribute them among the beneficiaries. The distribution will be supervised by QRCS and KRCS representatives.
More than 100,000 people are facing widespread famine in several parts of South Sudan, and 270,000 children already have severe malnutrition. According to international reports, 5mn people are in dire need of help, basically food and livelihood.
A QRCS delegate
Insecurity makes it difficult to access drought-stricken areas, leaving thousands at risk of death if food aid is not immediately secured, the statement notes.
The programme is in line with a memorandum of understanding signed between QRCS and WFP in April 2017 to secure technical and logistical services through the UN Humanitarian Response Depots network, a preparedness tool that supports the strategic stockpiling efforts of the wider humanitarian community.
Having commenced its operations there in 2013, QRCS has conducted several health, water and sanitation projects in South Sudan with funding from Qatar Fund for Development. Among the achievements are digging water wells, building toilets and promoting environmental hygiene, the statement adds.
The food supplies were procured from neighbouring countries and stored at WFP's warehouses
Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has announced that it has launched, in response to the alarming humanitarian situation in South Sudan, a relief intervention to help the victims of famine in the war-torn country, at a total cost of $300,000.
