Humanitarian need growing in South Sudan as rainy season approaches a severe food crisis is growing in South Sudan and as the rainy season approaches the situation has the potential to deteriorate further. A report released in February by the Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission signalled that 4.7 million people will be food insecure this year, with at least one million people becoming severely food insecure and requiring immediate assistance.
As the rainy season approaches a new set of problems could appear as Claudia Futterknecht, CARE’S country director in South Sudan, explains: “The rains cut people off from vital services, like medical care, food and clean water. So many people already don’t have enough food and the rains will make this situation worse. Continued support to South Sudan’s vulnerable population is essential as they not only fight for their own livelihoods, but the families also offer support to internally displaced people and returnees from Sudan and share what little they have.”
To prepare for this CARE, as the lead agency in Unity State providing health services, is providing vaccination, nutrition and maternal and child healthcare services to 24,000 people at the Yida, Pariang and Nyiel refugee camps. In Jonglei CARE is reducing the time women spend collecting water for household needs by drilling boreholes and assisting the community in building latrines and working with communities to build their skills to maintain water points and increasing their awareness of the importance of good hygiene. CARE is promoting peaceful co-existence among communities through improved water, sanitation and hygiene services, and improved health status and livelihood opportunities.
This crisis is just one of a myriad of problems that the new country has been dealing with since it became independent in July last year. The country is experiencing conflict, internal displacement as well as an influx of refugees from Sudan. However, there are great hopes that the newly independent country of South Sudan can overcome these challenges and establish themselves a democratic and prosperous country in the region in the near future.