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South Sudan on the “brink of famine” as third anniversary of independence passes

South Sudan this week marked the third anniversary of its gaining independence as news came that more than 250,000 children in the country are at risk of malnutrition.

South Sudan was established on 9th July, 2011, following a UN-backed referendum but fighting broke out in December last year between the supporters of President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Riek Machar.

Four young South Sudanese children sit amid empty water cans. Violence forced them to flee their homes for safety across the border in Kenya. Now they face other challenges, such as the lack of clean water. World Vision plans to drill a borehole in their community. PICTURE: Joseph Mathenge/World Vision

Thousands are believed to have been killed and more than 1.5 million people have since fled their homes with 100,000 seeking shelter at UN bases in the country. Aid agencies report that the country now stands on the brink of famine with reports people are eating leaves to survive.

World Vision Australia chief executive Tim Costello said four million of the 11 million people in the country are now in “urgent need” as a result of the ongoing conflict.

“Three years ago there was dancing on the streets as a new nation was born with hopes and dreams for a free future…but there is not too much to celebrate (now) as the population struggles to survive one of the gravest crises in recent memory,” he said.

World Vision said the emergency response has been hampered by heavy rains making aid almost impossible to deliver by land and instead forced to rely on expensive air drops.

On Tuesday, Hilde F Johnson, the UN secretary-general’s special representative in South Sudan, said in a speech marking the end of her three-year appointment, that the country was “at risk of seeing the worst famine in the country”s history.”

“And it is not because the rains did not come. It is because of a manmade disaster. It is because of a manmade conflict. And if it comes, it will be a man-made famine.”

And in a joint statement also issued on Tuesday, UNICEF and the United Nations World Food Programme said an estimated 235,000 children under the age of five will require treatment for “severe acute malnutrition” this year – a figure which is twice that of last year – while some 675,000 children will require treatment for “moderate severe acute malnutrition”.

They said ” due to the challenging conditions, the humanitarian community has only been able to reach about 10 per cent of these children with the required treatment.”

To give to World Vision Australia’s South Sudan Appeal call 13 32 40 or visit www.worldvision.com.au/southsudan.

 

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