Three out of four South Sudanese (about 8 million) need humanitarian aid in 2023, leaving half a million more people in this situation compared to last year due to the deterioration of the situation in the country, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned today.
According to the United Nations health agency, approximately two out of three people face “critical” hunger levels in the country and the number of children with severe malnutrition requiring medical intervention is the highest in the last four years.
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“These figures tell us about the immense needs of the country, but we cannot forget the people behind the figures and in every child who is lost there is a part of the future of the world that goes with him,” added the head of WHO emergencies for the Horn of Africa, Liesbeth Aelbrecht, at a press conference.
The WHO representative, who spoke electronically from Nairobi, noted that The high need for humanitarian aid in the country has not been caused by a single emergencybut is the result of the “multiplier and aggravating” impact of numerous crises such as conflict, climate crisisdiseases and hunger.
Furthermore, Aelbrecht assured that Both floods and drought caused by the “El Niño” meteorological phenomenon reduce access to drinking water in the country and may lead to a worsening of diseases transmitted by mosquitoes and water such as malaria.
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South Sudan has also been exposed to a rise in measles casesdue to the loss of immunization due to the influx of refugees and returnees who arrived in the country from neighboring Sudan after the conflict that began last April.
In this sense, the official indicated that the WHO has supported the implementation of national vaccination campaigns against measles, and to date almost 3.6 million children have been vaccinated in 2023.
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In this situation, The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recalled that the conflict in South Sudan makes it one of the “most dangerous countries in the world” for humanitarian workers, along with neighboring Sudan.
According to data from the UN humanitarian agency, the South Sudanese country occupies first place for insecurity for this group with a total of 40 attacks against humanitarian personnel until August 10, which resulted in 22 fatalities so far this year. , almost the same figure recorded in all of 2022.
“Attacks on humanitarian workers and facilities are violations of international humanitarian law and the perpetrators must be held accountable,” said office spokesman Jens Laerke.
EFE
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