Charity warns of famine in South Sudan

Ayen Gach Awan, a 28-year-old woman, and her children posed for a photo outside their temporary shelter in Mangalla, South Sudan, Oct. 23, 2020. (Xinhua/Gale Julius)

South Sudan is facing a potential risk of famine due to the effects of protracted conflict, flooding, and a poor economy, an international charity, Save the Children has warned.

JUBA, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan is facing a potential risk of famine due to the effects of protracted conflict, flooding, and a poor economy, an international charity, Save the Children, warned on Monday.

Cumulative effects of years of conflict, flooding, and a poor economy, which have destroyed livelihoods, disrupted food production and markets, and forced four million people to flee their homes, would worsen South Sudan's fragile food security situation, the non-governmental organization said in a statement.

Children in South Sudan remain in serious threat of hunger as nearly one million children under five years face severe food shortages, it said.

Children were at a temporary camp hosting flood victims in Mangalla, South Sudan, on Oct. 23, 2020. (Xinhua/Gale Julius)

Save the Children said some 300,000 children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, the most dangerous and deadly form of extreme hunger.

According to statistics from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 6.5 million people, or over half of South Sudan's population, have faced food insecurity this year alone.

Recent floods have affected over one million people across the East African country, worsening the already dire humanitarian situation there.