South Sudan: 1.4 million children under 5 are malnourished

Nearly 1.4 million children under the age of five are malnourished in South Sudan, which is facing the “worst hunger crisis” it has experienced since its founding, mainly due to repeated large-scale floods and ongoing civil armed conflict, a UN official said today. the NGO Save the Children (“Save the children”).

The world’s newest state, mired in ethno-political violence and chronic political instability since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, is enduring widespread flooding for the fourth consecutive year, now affecting nine of South Sudan’s ten states.

According to the United Nations, 8.9 million people, or in other words 71% of the population, need humanitarian assistance. This number “includes 1.4 million children under the age of five who suffer from malnutrition,” Save the Children said in a statement.

“The situation has worsened in recent months, with more than 615,000 people affected by unprecedented floods for the fourth consecutive year, which have destroyed homes, crops, caused an increase in malaria cases and reptile bites, particularly among women and children,” he continues. the NGO.

The landlocked East African country’s currency has lost 40% of its value this year, which has led to a big increase in the prices of imported goods, added to their rise due to the war in Ukraine.

“South Sudan is among the five most vulnerable countries to climate change in the world,” points out Jib Rabiltosaborn, the director of Save the Children’s branch in the country.

Ahead of COP27, in November in Egypt, the non-governmental organization calls on the international community to “increase its financial commitments to help vulnerable communities and children cope (…) with climate disasters”.

The World Bank estimates that 80% of South Sudan’s 11 million people lived in “extreme poverty” in 2018.

RES-EMP

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