South Sudan: Humanitarian Snapshot (May 2020)

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Violence and insecurity persisted in May and drove humanitarian needs, alongside the onset of the annual lean season, increasing rains and COVID-19. More than 17,000 people were displaced in Lainya, Yei and Morobo counties in Central Equatoria by armed clashes involving Government and opposition forces and the National Salvation Front.

Intercommunal violence in Uror County, Jonglei, affected more than 23,000 people, displacing thousands and leaving hundreds dead. Clashes in Gogrial East County, Warrap, and Jur River County, Western Bahr el Ghazal, uprooted an estimated 33,500 people. Cattle raids in Twic County in Warrap and Mayom and Rubkona counties in Unity displaced more than 10,000 people.

By the end of May, South Sudan confirmed 994 people with COVID-19, including three inside the Protection of Civilians sites in Juba and Bentiu, home to 30,000 and 110,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) respectively. Latest displacement monitoring report found 1.60 million IDPs across the country. The marginal decrease from the 1.67 million count published in January was mainly due to the return of flood-affected IDPs to their home areas, closure of some IDP sites and ongoing data cleaning. With the onset of the rainy season, some 12,000 people were affected by floods in Bor, Jonglei. Some 6.48 million people were estimated to be acutely food insecure between May and July, according to projections made in January. Damage assessment was ongoing for the desert locust invasion in Eastern Equatoria.