June, Islamic Relief (IR) sent aid workers to the North Kordofan to help improve their 16-year-old Um Dam and North Kordofan Water Project (NKWP). The UN, NGOs, charities and the Sudanese government reported that food security was a major concern in South Sudan and would stay at risk until the rainy season in September. By 8 April 2010, starving children and elders filled the wards of a hospital in Akobo, Sudan. Several aid groups like Save the Children and Medair found out that 46% of children in the region were malnourished. The U.N. blamed two years of failed rainfall and the ongoing tribal clashes in the region for helping to create the humanitarian crisis in southern Sudan. The World Food Programme(WFP) was feeding 80,000 (up from 20,000 since April 2009) and the U.N. says 4,300,000 people in southern Sudan need food aid. On 23 April 2010, said Nigerien Culture Minister Aminata Takoubakoyea, there was a reported food supply deficit of 119,700 tonnes and a fodder supply deficit of 16,000,000 tonnes. Niger's leading musicians and singers held a charity concert in Niamey to assist. May On 1 May 2010, the West African nation of Chad was on the verge of a nationwide famine as drought, armed conflict, and an influx of Darfur refugees all contributed to a chronic food shortage that now affects 2,000,000 people (20% of the country's total population). Various aid groups, NGOs and charities said a catastrophic famine could hit the country in the near future if food relief does not arrive soon. The UN warned that a famine had hit the town of Mao in Chad's Kanem region. The city of Niamey, Niger took in refugees from Tillabéri department 12 days before, after they turned up hoping the city would help them. By 3 May 2010, the towns of Kongomé, Zinder, Tanout and Dalli were the worst hit by the drought. Morocco gives a short term cash loan to both the Niger and Mali. NGOs and Charities report famine conditions Kindal region on the 5th. On 12 and 26 May 2010, both Mauritania, the Sénégal River Area and neighbouring parts of both Senegal and Mali faced both drought and famine. On 14 May 2010, USAID issued a food shortage alert for the Kordofan states. Seven died of dehydration in Ghaidi Magha, Mauritania, near the Malian border on 18 May 2010. Afrol News reported on 25 May that