Responding to South Sudan's Hunger Crisis - March 2018

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Front page - South Sudan
Friday, April 20, 2018

A total of 480,869 people in South Sudan were reached with life-saving humanitarian assistance in March 2018.

Still, the response is ongoing.  

World Vision is concerned that: 

  • The humanitarian crisis in South Sudan is continuing: The crisis remains primarily driven by the compounding effects of decades of insecurity and prolonged conflict. Families have been forced to abandon their livelihoods, markets have been cut off, access to basic services have been denied, and intercommunal conflicts have become more pervasive. Making matters worse, what was already a challenging economic situation has continued to decline in large part due to the ongoing crisis causing families to take up extreme coping mechanisms to keep their children alive.

  • Children are in crisis: Children are suffering from high rates of prolonged hunger and malnutrition. Additionally children are experiencing high stress situations,  a known and drastic increased risk of a number of chronic health problems limiting their capacity to contribute to more peaceful and prosperous future generation.

  • Food insecurity is growing: As during the previous three years, widespread events of conflict/insecurity, cattle raiding and market shocks occurred in areas overlapping those experiencing high levels of food insecurity. With the peak of the lean season (July) quickly approaching, the proportion of those facing severe food insecurity is expected to rise to to 6.94 million people. Greatest concern is for populations living in parts of Greater Upper Nile and Greater Northern Bahr El Ghazal where some locations are predicted to be facing “famine” while others are on the precious. Given the funding shortfall, it is imperative that in the coming months stakeholders work to develop more innovative and creative approaches to reaching more individuals.

  • Response funding is limited: It is imperative that funding for the 2018 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) be committed as soon as possible. While already 4 months into the response, only 8.2 percent has been received. 

For more information about World Vision's response activities, locations and other details, please download (pdf) our March 2018 Situation Report.