The federal government will increase its aid effort to South Sudan where the United Nations warns more than 50,000 children could die this year because of a worsening food crisis.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Sunday that Australia would provide a further $5 million in humanitarian assistance to South Sudan bringing the government’s contribution to over $18 million since internal conflict began eight months ago. The fighting has killed at least 10,000 people and displaced about 1.5 million.

The UN has described the deepening humanitarian emergency in South Sudan as the "worst in the world" but the crisis there has been overshadowed by emergencies in Iraq, Syria and Gaza as well as the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa.

Two million children in South Sudan are facing extreme hunger, according to the latest UN figures.

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