More than half the population of South Sudan – 6.6 million people – are severely hungry, including 2.2 million people at risk of starvation.
Yet the humanitarian response remains woefully underfunded, and without an urgent increase in aid now, 7.7 million people or two-thirds of the population will face severe food shortages next year, Oxfam warned.
The latest estimates are that 9.4 million people in South Sudan will be in need of humanitarian assistance in 2023, over three quarters of the population and an increase of 500,000 people from 2022.
Despite the scale of the crisis, the UK government has promised just £3m in humanitarian aid to South Sudan this year. In 2017 the UK government provided £162 million in humanitarian and development aid to the country. Despite millions of people facing starvation, the government have continued to cut the overseas aid budget.
The UN humanitarian appeal for South Sudan has half a billion dollar shortfall, with $1.3 billion raised compared with $1.5 billion in 2020 despite the increased number of people in need of help. The outlook for the next lean season from April – July 2023 is bleak as aid declines, and 1.4 million children are projected to be malnourished.
Dr Manenji Mangundu, Oxfam South Sudan Country Director, said: “The world cannot continue to ignore the suffering of millions of people who face a daily struggle to survive. Funding is urgently needed to save lives now and to ensure people can grow enough food and make a living in order to feed their families. The South Sudanese people are paying the price for a climate crisis that rich polluting nations have caused.”
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