S. Sudan hunger deepens due to floods, drought: WFP
December 12, 2019 (ROME/JUBA) – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said it is in a race against time to mobilize vital funds to feed millions of people in South Sudan as hunger advances on a population that is in dire need of humanitarian assistance.
The agency, in a statement issued Thursday, said catastrophic flooding in recent months is pushing the country and its people towards a precipice amid the country’s intense political instability.
According to forecasts from the last food security data prepared by government and United Nations experts, up to 5.5 million South Sudanese are projected to go hungry early next year.
The number of people in need, it said, is likely to increase because of the catastrophic level of destruction caused by floods since October following a drought that hammered parts of the country this year.
“With all the catastrophes around the world, the last thing we need is another,” said WFP Executive Director David Beasley.
“We know the problems that we’ve been having in South Sudan, but the rains and the floods have led to a national disaster and are much worse than anyone could have anticipated,” he added.
In 2019, WFP reportedly ramped up its assistance to reach 4.6 million with life-saving support, but now needs US$270 million for the first half of 2020. Of this, WFP needs US$100 million in the next month to buy and pre-position food ahead of the rainy season in May 2020.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), nearly a million people have been affected by heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding in various part of South Sudan.
In late October, the government declared a state of emergency in Bahr el Ghazal, Greater Upper Nile and Greater Equatoria because of floods, calling for assistance.
(ST)