The United Nations has warned that nearly 60 percent of South Sudan’s population will face acute food insecurity next year, with over two million children at risk of malnutrition. The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) review, released on Monday, predicts that starting in April, approximately 7.7 million people will be unable to meet basic food needs, an increase from 7.1 million during the last lean season.
Mary-Ellen McGroarty, Country Director for the UN World Food Programme (WFP), attributed the worsening crisis to a combination of conflict and the climate crisis. “Year after year, we see hunger reaching some of the highest levels in South Sudan,” she said, describing the situation as a “cocktail of despair.”
South Sudan, still grappling with decades of conflict and its worst flooding in decades, is also facing a massive influx of refugees fleeing the war in neighboring Sudan. The IPC data indicates that over 85 percent of returnees from Sudan will also experience acute food insecurity by April, exacerbated by inadequate access to clean water and sanitation facilities.
The UN has called for urgent humanitarian intervention to prevent further loss of life and address the underlying causes of the crisis, including climate resilience and conflict resolution efforts.
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