JUBA, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said Tuesday that it has secured 1.4 million U.S. dollars to treat and prevent malnutrition across Sudan and South Sudan.

The WFP said the funding will help more than 35,000 children and pregnant or breastfeeding mothers impacted by conflicts, economic shocks and climate events, almost 29,000 people in Sudan who have been caught up in the war, and almost 6,000 in South Sudan who are impacted by an ongoing humanitarian crisis driven by conflicts and economic and climate crises.

Michael Dunford, WFP regional director for the Eastern Africa region, said the funding from Saudi Arabia comes at a critical time of one year since the conflict in Sudan began and has since spiraled into what may soon be the world's largest hunger crisis.

"With extreme hunger comes malnutrition and we have already started to receive reports of children in Sudan dying of starvation. Support for our nutrition programs is critical to prevent these deaths as well as the long-term impacts of childhood malnutrition," Dunford said in a statement in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

According to the UN agency in Sudan, 4.9 million children under five and pregnant or breastfeeding women are acutely malnourished, representing a 22 percent increase from the previous year. Enditem

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