UN, partners step up responses to floods in S. Sudan

December 5, 2019 (NEW YORK) – The United Nations and its partners have stepped up responses to devastating floods that affected over 900,000 people in South Sudan.

Emergency kits, it said, have also helped 9,000 households, with 12,000 more households set to receive these kits soon.

“Aid workers are using planes and waterways to access hard-to reach locations and are repairing roads, with the support of local communities,” Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the Secretary General said in a statement.

More than 900,000 people have been impacted by heavy rainfall and flooding in South Sudan since July, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Last month, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, released $15 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to help with the response of the floods.

Additional $10 million was allocated from South Sudan Humanitarian Fund, but the humanitarian crisis in the country remains severe, with 7.5 million people in need of aid due to conflict, chronic vulnerabilities and lack of essential services.

(ST)