The world’s youngest independent state, South Sudan is plunging into a humanitarian crisis only one year after the peace deal signed to put an end to a civil war that ravaged the country starting 2013. The peace agreement was expected to put an end to violence and reinstate peace in the war-torn country, giving hope for development. Notwithstanding this, this African country keeps on experiencing local ethnic hostilities that, in combination with poverty and extreme weather events, have triggered a serious humanitarian crisis.
Figures up
According to a recent UN report, the number of people in need has increased significantly within the last year. It is estimated that, in 2021, 8.3 million South Sudanese of the country’s total population of about 12 millions will require humanitarian assistance, while in 2020 this figure was 7.5 million, a predicted increase of 800,000 people.
Moreover, recent floods and local fighting have forced many people to leave their homes. Current data indicates that 1.62 million people are internally displaced with 125,000 of these staying within the protection of civilian sites, while 2.19 million Sudanese live in neighboring countries as refugees and over 318,000 refugees from other states live in South Sudan. These make this refugee crisis the largest in Africa and the third-largest in the world after Syria and Afghanistan.
The ongoing humanitarian crisis in South Sudan is also reflected by the number of acutely malnourished people which is estimated to stand at 5.8 million including 483,000 women and 1.4 million children, according to the latest IPC Acute Food Insecurity analysis.
Crisis triggers
These numbers point out the extent of the humanitarian disaster in South Sudan which has arisen from various different factors. First of all, South Sudan, despite the peace agreement in force, continues to be affected by local ethnic conflicts. According to the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, the level of violence has been escalating. In 2020 alone, over 2,000 civilians died as a result of local conflicts, said David Shearer, head of the UN Mission in South Sudan, noting that the current wave of violence may be at an even higher level than that seen during the recent civil war.
Violence has also been encouraged by the fact that many civilians, including children, still hold weaponry distributed to them during the civil war. Although the war ended, the ruling coalition has failed to make any effort to halt the violence and disarm local militias. During violent attacks, people are killed and children are kidnapped. In May 2020, over 240 people were killed in a single attack conducted by Murle militia in Nuer areas.
The situation worsened following recent floods which began in July 2020, leaving thousands of people without shelter and forcing them to leave the states of Jonglei, Unity, Upper Nile, and Bahr el Gazal as well as parts of Greater Equatoria. This was the worst flood for decades and affected about 800,000 people, destroying their homes, crops, livestock, schools, and health facilities and significantly increasing the risk of famine since many people lost their source of income or sites where they could grow crops and vegetables. To compound this problem, South Sudan subsequently experienced a desert locust invasion which affected the Central and Eastern Equatoria states, devastating large swathes of farmland, crops, green vegetation, and livestock, which will also have an impact on food security.
International response
In 2019 alone, the bilateral donor community offered over $605 million in humanitarian aid to South Sudan, whereas another $650 million came from the multilateral donor community, according to USAID. With the country now witnessing an escalating humanitarian crisis, international development aid actors have already called for millions in assistance to help South Sudan cope with this chain of crises. The U.S. Government has already pledged almost $48 million in assistance for South Sudan to fight the Covid pandemic and support refugees. The amount adds to the total of $6.4 billion the USA disbursed to South Sudan over the past 20 years. UNICEF has appealed for $197.8 million in urgently needed humanitarian aid for South Sudanese children and their families in 2021. The International Organization for Migration has put in place a South Sudan Crisis Response Plan for 2020-2021, the updated version of which provides for over $250 million in required funding.
