Mercy Corps appeals for more funding in South Sudan

September 13, 2017 (JUBA) – The country director, Mercy Corps, an international aid agency, has decried the appalling humanitarian condition in South Sudan amid calls for more funding for those affected by the civil war.

” The humanitarian crisis in South Sudan continues to reach new lows. For such a young nation to have so much displacement is shattering. Families who, in 2011 thought they would be settling into their new country have been uprooted, many of them multiple times, and one-third of the nation’s [population] are on the run”, said Deepmala Mahla.

More than 2 million people, the United Nation says, have fled South Sudan into its neighbouring countries since the war broke out in 2013.

The official appealed to the international community to help fund humanitarian operations in the war-torn East African country in order to rescue the vulnerable civilians displaced by the ongoing civil war.

“We call on the international community to commit to fully funding the humanitarian response in South Sudan, and in a sustainable way that helps people do more than just survive. We must give the South Sudanese people the chance to stay in their own country and the chance to rebuild their lives,” stressed Mahla.

He further added, “Most of all, the guns must fall silent”.

Operational in South Sudan since 1995, Mercy Corps provides emergency relief to people affected by the conflict, including water and sanitation as well as emergency education for children.

The South Sudanese civil war is a conflict in between forces of the government and the armed opposition forces. In mid-December 2013, President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of attempting a coup d’état. Since then, tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than two million displaced in the country’s worst-ever violence after it seceded from Sudan.

(ST)