UN accused of S Sudan 'indifference'

Diseases are rife at the camp because of the UN's failure to act, MSF says

A medical charity has accused the UN in South Sudan of showing "shocking indifference" towards displaced people sheltering at one of its compounds.

About 21,000 people were "living in flood water contaminated with faecal matter" at the UN's Tromping base in the capital, Juba, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said.

The UN has not yet reacted.

The group sought refuge at the compound after fighting broke out between government and rebels in December.

More than one million people have fled their homes since the conflict began.

Of these, 803,200 have been displaced within the country, and another 254,000 have fled to neighbouring countries, according to a UN report released last month.

The UN has around 8,000 peacekeepers in South Sudan, the world's newest state.

Diarrhoeal diseases, respiratory infections and skin diseases had broken out among displaced people at the compound, MSF said in a statement^[2].

The UN's failure to improve conditions was "shameful" , it added.

South Sudan has been hit by instability since its independence in 2011

"In the first rainfall of the season 150 latrines collapsed, mixing with floodwater. People are living in natural drainage channels as there is no other space and there are 65 people per latrine," said Carolina Lopez, MSF's emergency coordinator.

"The rains, which will last the best part of six months, are getting heavier and if nothing is done right now, the consequences, already horrific, could become fatal," she added.

The violence which caused the displaced people to flee erupted on 15 December between pro-government forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and soldiers backing Riek Machar, his former vice-president.

President Kiir accused Mr Machar of plotting a coup, an allegation he denied.

A ceasefire was agreed between the two sides towards the end of January, but they have accused each other of violating it.

South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011 after a long and bloody conflict, to become the world's newest state.

Sudan's arid north is mainly home to Arabic-speaking Muslims. But in South Sudan there is no dominant culture. The Dinkas and the Nuers are the largest of more than 200 ethnic groups, each with its own languages and traditional beliefs, alongside Christianity and Islam.

Both Sudan and the South are reliant on oil revenue, which accounts for 98% of South Sudan's budget. They have fiercely disagreed over how to divide the oil wealth of the former united state - at one time production was shutdown for more than a year. Some 75% of the oil lies in the South but all the pipelines run north.

The two Sudans are very different geographically. The great divide is visible even from space, as this Nasa satellite image shows. The northern states are a blanket of desert, broken only by the fertile Nile corridor. South Sudan is covered by green swathes of grassland, swamps and tropical forest.

After gaining independence in 2011, South Sudan is the world's newest country - and one of its poorest. Figures from 2010 show some 69% of households now have access to clean water - up from 48% in 2006. However, just 2% of households have water on the premises.

Just 29% of children attend primary school in South Sudan - however, this is also an improvement on the 16% recorded in 2006. About 32% of primary-age boys attend, while just 25% of girls do. Overall, 64% of children who begin primary school reach the last grade.

Almost 28% of children under the age of five in South Sudan are moderately or severely underweight. This compares with the 33% recorded in 2006. Unity state has the highest proportion of children suffering malnourishment (46%), while Central Equatoria has the lowest (17%).

References

1. ^{^} Continue reading the main story (www.bbc.co.uk)
2. ^{^} MSF statement (www.msf.org.uk)