By
Peter Louis
As humanitarian needs rise in South Sudan, the Humanitarian Coordinator has called for urgent funding to enable aid organizations to rapidly scale-up humanitarian action during the dry season.
“Aid workers are in a race against time to respond in areas previously cut off by fighting and rains, and to pre-position vital supplies ahead of the next rainy season,” said Eugene Owusu, Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan. “If we are unable to act now, the situation will be much worse and the response will be much more costly in the months ahead.”
To kick start the response, the Humanitarian Coordinator has allocated US$20.3 million from the South Sudan Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF) to top priority projects. However, partners urgently require $220 million for critical actions to be taken before the end of the dry season in May 2016.
“I am appealing to donors to give generously, and to give now, to replenish the CHF and fund other critical components of the response, including core pipelines,” said Mr. Owusu. “We are facing widespread food insecurity, malnutrition, displacement and disease. We need funding now to save lives, alleviate suffering and get supplies out before the rains set in again.”
This year, approximately two per cent of the $1.3 billion required to provide life-saving assistance and protection has been received.
The latest Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) update found that, from January to March 2016, 2.8 million people will remain in urgent need of food assistance, and at least 40,000 people are on the brink of catastrophe, at a time when the country is traditionally most food secure.
“I am deeply concerned that we are facing increasing needs with diminishing resources,” said Mr. Owusu. “The world must not let South Sudan become a forgotten crisis. Humanitarian partners are standing ready to respond, but they cannot do so without funding.”
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