UN humanitarian chief to visit South Sudan

July 21, 2015 (JUBA) – The United Nations announced on Tuesday that its emergency relief coordinator, Stephen O’Brien will visit South Sudan starting from 22-25 July.

The four-day visit will reportedly enable O’Brien see first-hand the devastating humanitarian consequences of the South Sudanese conflict and efforts by aid agencies to assist the needy.

He is expected to meet communities affected by the ongoing conflict, senior government officials, humanitarian partners and the diplomatic community, to discuss the ongoing crisis and ways of strengthening humanitarian operations.

More than 2.2 million people, the UN says, have been uprooted from their homes by the conflict, including 1.6 million people internally displaced and over 600,000 who have fled to Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda as refugees.

“The food security situation is alarming. Nearly 70 per cent of the country’s population – 7.9 million out of 11.6 million people are expected to face food insecurity this rainy season,” partly reads a statement issued on Tuesday.

“The lives of more than a quarter of a million children are at risk from rapidly worsening nutrition. In half the states, one in three children suffer from acute malnutrition,” it added.

(ST)