News Report Issues Dire Warning on Hunger in South Sudan
The World Food Program says South Sudan is on the verge of a devastating hunger catastrophe, according to a recent report by Al Jazeera news.
The report highlights the confluence of devastating events that have hit the struggling nation over the past four years, citing widespread flooding and drought that wiped out much of the food supply, and events on the world stage that led to significant reductions in foreign aid.
Now, the report says the population explosion from hundreds of thousands of Sudanese people escaping war by entering South Sudan, is making the existing food crisis that much worse. The displaced arrive at border camps that are overcrowded and under-resourced, in a nation where 75 percent of people already need humanitarian assistance.
The United Nations is calling the situation the world’s worst humanitarian crisis at this time, yet aid response has been slow and vastly insufficient.
Facing a $300 million dollar shortfall in funding, Gemma Snowdon of the World Food Programme said their organization will be able to reach less than 40 percent of the people facing severe food insecurity in South Sudan this year. And out of those, the WFP can only provide 50 percent of the rations actually needed for the most at-risk victims of hunger.
“It’s an extraordinarily tiny amount,” said Snowdon, “It’s amazing that people can survive through it.”
She reiterated that South Sudan has the highest percentage of food insecure people in the whole world. “We feel like we’re going to see a continuing deterioration (of the situation) in South Sudan, particularly with the added conflict in Sudan pushing people across the border,” Snowdon warned.
UNICEF reports that over 9 million people, including 5 million children, are in dire need of humanitarian assistance to see them through the massive food shortage.
Sudan Relief Fund has been on the ground since the beginning of this crisis, distributing food relief in refugee camps and to vulnerable communities. Your partnership has been and will continue to be critical to save lives from the horror of starvation – a tragedy that can and should be prevented in today’s world. To send immediate help, please go here.
