Famine Declared In South Sudan As 100,000 People Face Starvation
Credit: Public Radio International
Aid agencies report that 40% of the
country’s citizens require “urgent help,” and warn that millions are at
risk of dying within the next six months.
On Tuesday, UN-based organizations the
World Food Programme, UNICEF, and the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) issued a famine declaration at a news conference in Juba, South
Sudan. Reportedly,
people are already dying of hunger and another 1 million people are on
the brink of famine. The crisis has affected almost 5 million people,
more than 40% of the country’s population.
In effect, the area is in urgent need of
help, say the aid agencies. According to Joyce Luma of the World Food
Programme, the famine in Sudan is largely “man-made” and is an effect of
political turmoil that has engulfed the country since 2013. Serge
Tissot of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
commented:
“Our worst fears have been realized. Many families have exhausted every means they have to survive.”
Because of the hardship, survivors have
no choice but to scavenge for food. Emma Jane Drew, Oxfam’s humanitarian
program manager in South Sudan, noted in a statement that “People have been pushed to the brink” and are essentially surviving on what they can find to eat in swamps.
“Vulnerable people, out of reach of life-saving assistance due to the conflict, are paying the ultimate price,” she added.
Though the famine was only recently
announced, the conundrum in South Sudan has been escalating for years.
“Food insecurity, hunger, malnutrition has been getting steadily worse
since the conflict started three years ago,” explained
George Fominyen, a spokesperson for the UN food program. The issue is,
humanitarian groups have had large difficulty reaching the hardest-hit
areas.
“We have to talk to 10 to 15 people and ask if it’s possible to send a team there,” he said. “You cannot just access these places without prior agreement.”
Unless “a substantial injection of
funds” – approximately $205 million – is secured within the next six
months, the UN food program’s supplies will run out.
“We are quite concerned that we do not have the resources,” Fominyen confessed. “We could run out of food by the end of June. The needs are so huge; every time you are entering a new front, a new battle.”
Much is heard about the Syrian refugee crisis, but what few know is that Africa is experiencing it’s largest
refugee crisis as South Sudan citizens flee the civil war in their
homeland and migrate to Uganda. 1.5 million people fled Sudan just last
week, offering perspective on how the situation is worsening.
South Sudan, which is a relatively new nation, experienced a starvation before. NZHerald points out
that in 1998, a famine occurred in the region of Bahr El Ghazal after
an extended drought and fighting between government forces and rebels.
Officials now warn that an “all-out ethnic civil war” could soon occur.
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