US announces more than $95m in humanitarian aid for S. Sudan
April 15, 2021 (WASHINGTON) – The United States on Thursday announced more than $95 million in additional humanitarian assistance for the people of South Sudan who are affected by the ongoing political conflict and are facing extreme food insecurity, including likely famine.
The funding includes more than $52 million from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and nearly $43 million from the US Department of State, which brings the total US humanitarian assistance for this year to over $482 million.
“With this new assistance, USAID will help provide emergency food and nutrition assistance, essential healthcare, shelter, safe drinking water, and sanitation and hygiene services to some of the nearly 4 million people impacted. When possible, the Agency procures food from South Sudanese farmers who were able to harvest their crops,” USAID said in a statement.
This life-saving assistance will also support the internally displaced people and South Sudanese refugees in host communities in neighbouring Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
South Sudan is facing the highest levels of food insecurity and malnutrition since its independence in 2011. The upcoming May-to-July lean season is expected to be the most severe on record and has the potential to leave more than 7 million people, including more than a million children, in need of food assistance.
Recent floods, political instability and the COVID-19 pandemic have further exacerbated a dire situation in the East African nation.
“The United States is the largest donor of humanitarian aid to the South Sudan response efforts, and we remain committed to helping the people of South Sudan. Humanitarian assistance will not solve the conflict, but it is vital to keeping civilians alive,” stressed the statement.
The United States, however, said a political solution in South Sudan remains the only way to end the suffering of people in the world’s newest nation.
(ST)