Nairobi: War and a collapsing economy have set off a famine in South Sudan, the United Nations announced Monday, and millions of people are in urgent need of food.
An ethnic conflict erupted three years ago in South Sudan, killing tens of thousands, driving millions from their homes and hindering delivery of lifesaving aid. Malnutrition rates have soared above emergency levels, and countless people have died of hunger, UNÂ officials said.
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South Sudan officially in famine
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Parts of war-ravaged South Sudan is hit by famine, as government official says nearly half the country's population would lack reliable access to affordable food by July.
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South Sudan officially in famine
Parts of war-ravaged South Sudan is hit by famine, as government official says nearly half the country's population would lack reliable access to affordable food by July.
"Our worst fears have been realised," said Serge Tissot of the Food and Agriculture Organisation, part of the UN.
So far, the famine has affected a relatively small area in the northern part of the country, where the conflict between the government and rebel groups has been most intense. Thousands of people in that area have fled their homes, and many are living deep in the swamps or sweltering bush and surviving off wild plants and filthy water.
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Battles are still raging in many parts of South Sudan, and UNÂ officials fear the famine could soon spread.
"Over a quarter of a million children are already severely malnourished," said Jeremy Hopkins, a UNICEF official in South Sudan. "If we do not reach these children with urgent aid, many of them will die."
South Sudan constitutes one of the biggest emergencies in Africa, perhaps the largest. The country broke off from Sudan in 2011 after decades of guerrilla warfare. After two years of peace, South Sudan cracked open in internecine conflict that pitted armed men from the largest ethnic groups against each other. Each side fields tens of thousands of battle-hardened soldiers who often target civilians.
African Union investigators have detailed accounts of massacres, mass rapes and forced cannibalism.
In recent months, Western officials have voiced fears of genocide. Other nations have struggled with how to help, and several rounds of peace talks have failed.
The UNÂ has more than 10,000 peacekeepers in South Sudan, which is relatively few for a rugged country nearly the size of Texas, that is crawling with armed groups that keep splintering.
The UNÂ considers famine a technical term, and for one to be declared, malnutrition and death rates have to exceed certain thresholds.
One of the gravest problems in South Sudan is access for aid groups. Both the government and rebels have attacked humanitarian convoys and warehouses, making it difficult to deliver aid to the hardest-hit areas.
Aid officials are urging the armed groups to allow emergency supplies to pass through their areas. Another worry is the prediction of drought. Meteorologists have said that this year is going to be especially hot and dry across much of eastern Africa.
"The entire humanitarian community have been trying with all our might to avoid this catastrophe," said Joyce Luma, the South Sudan director of the World Food Program.
But, she warned, "there is only so much that humanitarian assistance can achieve in the absence of meaningful peace and security."
The New York Times