South Sudan: Austerity Measures Raise Food-Security Fears - Agencies

Juba — South Sudan's tough austerity measures, introduced in the wake of the current oil crisis could have serious implications on people already suffering from poverty, lack of infrastructure and weak institutional capacity, humanitarian actors have warned.

The country's council of ministers, on February 17, approved a set of austerity measures with the aim of reducing government expenditures to make up for the nationwide shut-down of oil production.

As part of the measures, there will be a 50 percent reduction of non-salary spending and the elimination of unconditional grants to state governments. However, the defence and security spending, which accounts for over 40 per cent of the budget will, in addition to those of health, education and physical infrastructure, remain unaffected.

The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), in its weekly bulletin, says the loss of export revenues from oil as a result of the "self-imposed" austerity measures, could add to an already complicated humanitarian situation.

At least 98 percent of South Sudan's annual budget is supported by revenues from oil, raising fears of what could result from the shutdown, which emanated after disagreements with North Sudan.

This year, nearly 4.7 million people, according to a joint assessment conducted by UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) could experience food insecurity. Of this, about one million, it says, could be severely affected.

"The potential for macro-economic shocks from the loss of oil revenues makes worst-case scenarios appear more likely," UNOCHA said in the statement.

Meanwhile South Sudan has been selected by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) to test the implementation of the planned new transformative agenda for humanitarian coordination; an initiative that seeks to improve the current humanitarian response model as agreed upon by IASC principals.

If it proves a success, South Sudan, according to UNOCHA, could serve as a mechanism to deploy strong, experienced senior humanitarian leadership from the outset of a major crisis; strengthening leadership capacities and rapid deployment at various levels; improved strategic planning at the country level; enhanced accountability of the humanitarian coordinator and members of the humanitarian country team.

Also, IASC organizations, will prior to an emergency, strive towards increasing mutual understanding among civil society, national and international response systems. Additional efforts are also expected in developing local response capacities with the support of international humanitarian organizations, to ensure that life-saving assistance can be delivered when needed.

WAVE OF DISPLACEMENTS

As the government prepares to begin voluntary disarmament in Jonglei state next month, humanitarian agencies have expressed concerns over the plight of an estimated 140,000 people affected by inter-communal clashes in the state.

Peacekeeping joint monitoring team, comprising of South Sudan's army and police along with representatives from the Dinka, Lou Nuer and Murle communities will oversee the process, which will closely be monitored by the UN mission in the country.

The humanitarian community, it says, also continued to respond to emergencies in other parts of the country, including displacement of around 110,000 people from Abyei and the need to accommodate over 100,000 refugees from fighting in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile, in Sudan.