According to a joint statement by UNICEF, the UN World Food Program (WFP) and the UN Agricultural Organization FAO, two-thirds of the population could face an acute shortage of supplies by 2023. In addition, 1.3 million children are at risk of acute malnutrition.
The country on the Horn of Africa with about 11 million inhabitants has been led by a fragile interim government since 2020. Conflicts had erupted in the oil-rich country for decades. In 2013, a civil war broke out, with thousands dead and millions displaced. This officially ended in 2018.
According to the UN, the country now expects an even worse humanitarian situation than in the worst phases of the civil war. Climate change is mainly to blame, says Makena Walker, WFP’s acting country director in South Sudan.
“The country is on the front line of the climate crisis. Every day, families lose their livestock, their homes and their fields due to the extreme weather. » As early as mid-October, the UN Emergency Relief Office reported that 900,000 people had been affected by the floods.
(SDA)