South Sudan faces worst hunger crisis, says British charity | Tellwell Newspaper
Tellwell Newspaper, Abuja – Nigeria:
Widespread flooding in recent months combined with inter-communal conflict and soaring food prices has driven South Sudan into its worst hunger crisis since independence in 2011, with rising numbers of children at risk daily from malnutrition, disease, and snakebites, Save the Children said on Friday.
In a statement issued by the British children charity obtained by Tellwell Newspaper, Save the Children urged the
international community not to overlook South Sudan or to divert funding to other crises, with the UN estimating 8.9 million people, or 71 percent of the population, need humanitarian assistance, including 1.4 million children under five suffering malnutrition.
According to the charity, the situation has deteriorated in recent months with more than 615,000 people impacted by an unprecedented fourth consecutive year of large-scale flooding, destroying homes, crops, and leading to a spike in malaria and snakebites, particularly among women and children.
The dire situation has worsened by the displacement of thousands in the ongoing conflict that has plagued the world’s newest country since 2013, with slow progress implementing a 2018 peace agreement.
South Sudan is one of a number of countries crippled by the worst global hunger crisis this century, fuelled by a deadly mix of poverty, conflict, climate change, and economic shocks that have seen the currency fall by nearly 40 percent this year and food prices surge, exacerbated by higher import prices linked to the war in Ukraine
South Sudan is now facing one of the worst food insecurity emergencies in the world, warned Jib Rabiltossaporn, Save the Children’s South Sudan Country Director.
“The first generation of South Sudan children is growing up now and we must not fail them by allowing South Sudan to become a forgotten crisis,” Rabiltossaporn said.
So far, only about 45 percent of a UN international humanitarian funding appeal for US$1.7 billion has been raised for South Sudan where more than 4 million people are displaced, including about 2.2 million refugees from neighbouring countries.
With only 2 percent of roads paved, other rural communities are cut off and unable to receive food or other assistance, with dirt roads impassable and airstrips flooded.
Save the Children has been working in South Sudan since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after decades-long civil war.
In the town of Tonj in Warrap state, about 550 kms north of the capital Juba, traders at a local market said the price of staple foods, such as flour, rice and sugar, have more than doubled since the start of the year.
In nearby villages, farming families saw little hope of an end to the flooding caused by late and heavy seasonal rains that has left their houses and land up to two feet underwater, a breeding ground for snakes.
Flooding has forced hundreds of people in villages around Tonj from their homes since July, with many now living in makeshift shelters as their houses remain underwater or have collapsed. Their crops have been destroyed and they guard their cattle around the clock, wary of raids.
South Sudan is among five of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change, with drought and devastating floods a common feature.
“When there were warnings of starvation in 2017 and famine was declared in parts of the country, the international community acted to avert a large-scale disaster,” Rabiltossaporn said.
“We must do that again and now,” he appealed.
