Global charity urges for funding to help fight food crises in South Sudan

Children in Nyal village, South Sudan, share a meal (Photo: WFP/Gabriela Vivacqua)

JUBA, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Oxfam International, a global charity, on Wednesday called on the international community to act swiftly to avert food crises in South Sudan where millions of people are food insecure.

Oxfam South Sudan Country Director Manenji Mangundu said a country should never have to rely on aid in the first place, but when situations such as floods, drought and conflict are the cause, there is no other option than to avail all opportunities to help.

"We are concerned that, should there be any gaps in funding and initiative to maintain peace across the country, the current gains will be entirely lost, and a relapse may be imminent," Mangundu said in a statement issued in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

The charity cited the latest projection of Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) released Monday showing more than 7 million people will be facing acute food insecurity through the 2024 lean season, with the number of people facing catastrophic hunger (IPC5) expected to rise to 79,000 by April 2024.

The report, however, indicates a decrease in the number of people who are food insecure from 7.4 million in 2023 to 5.83 million in 2024.

Mangundu said the latest projection is a clear indication that close to 50 percent of the country continues to stay in need of humanitarian assistance. He, however, said these projections fall short of considerations of nearly 400,000 people who recently fled conflicts in Sudan and parts of Ethiopia.

"These are people whose level of urgency goes beyond safety, as most of them fled with only the clothes on their backs. This is in addition to communities who are yet to recover from the impact of the devastation caused by floods over the previous five years," he said.

The charity vowed to continue working with communities affected by the impact of climate change -- now manifesting as floods and dry spells in some parts of South Sudan, and the recent El Nino phenomenon which has caused severe changes in the rain pattern this year.

"We are very hopeful that communities will proactively take chances of the prevailing peace to increase farming and decrease the need for more aid," Mangundu said.

Oxfam called for collective engagements and efforts to help these people out of the current scenario.