Juba (agencies)
The United Nations representative in South Sudan warned yesterday that about 9 million people will be in dire need of aid this year in this modern country that is witnessing an escalation of violence and a food crisis.
Clashes renewed in South Sudan despite President Salva Kiir and his opponent, Vice President Riek Machar, pledged to silence their guns and work to implement key provisions of the 2018 peace agreement. Nicholas Haysom, head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), called on the warring factions’ leaders to intensify their efforts to stop the violence, while urging the international community to send more aid.
“Two thirds of the population, or about nine million people, including 4.6 million children, will need assistance this year to survive,” Haysom told reporters in the capital, Juba. “Food insecurity will be widespread, and it is likely to be exacerbated by climate change, conflict and displacement,” he added.
Haysom indicated that he was “frustrated by the renewed violence in the regions,” highlighting the suffering of thousands of people who were displaced from their homes due to the fighting, last week, between forces loyal to Kiir and those loyal to Machar in the oil-rich state of Unity.
Clashes in Leer County have displaced 14,000 people, according to local authorities, while the United Nations has expressed concern about reports of sexual violence, looting and destruction of property.
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