South Sudan: UN warns of imminent famine

Three United Nations agencies warned Thursday of imminent famine in a conflict-hit region of South Sudan.

Residents of 11 of the 13 counties in South Sudan's Upper Nile state are now facing emergency levels of hunger, the World Food Programme, the UN Children's Fund and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations said in a joint statement.

The Upper Nile is the scene of fighting between government troops and armed militias opposing the government of President Salva Kiir. Fighting has intensified in recent months, "destroying homes, disrupting livelihoods and preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid," the statement said.

Some 32,000 people are suffering from hunger in conditions described as "catastrophic" , three times more than previously predicted.

Food safety

Although other parts of South Sudan are seeing improvements in their food security , approximately 57% of the East African country's 11.5 million people face acute food insecurity.

Famine was declared in parts of South Sudan in 2017 .

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the main international system for designating hunger crises , considers a region to be in a famine situation when three conditions are met: 20% of households are extremely short of food, or essentially starving; at least 30% of children are acutely malnourished or wasted, meaning they are too thin for their height; and two adults or four children per 10,000 people die each day from hunger and its complications.

The CIP brings together experts from more than 20 organizations, including United Nations agencies, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, the European Union and the World Bank .

Civilian casualties

Nasir, one of the counties under famine alert, is a stronghold of anti-government militias and the scene of fighting that has caused many civilian casualties.

“Once again, we are seeing the devastating impact of conflict on food security in South Sudan ,” said Mary-Ellen McGroarty, World Food Programme representative in South Sudan, in the UN agencies’ statement. “Conflict not only destroys homes and livelihoods, it tears communities apart, cuts off access to markets and sends food prices soaring. Long-term peace is essential, but for now, it is paramount that our teams are able to access families caught in the Upper Nile conflict and safely distribute food to them, to pull them through and prevent famine.”