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South Sudan Crisis Poised to Grow Much Worse, CARE Warns
WEBWIRE <
http://www.webwire.com/> - Wednesday, February 19, 2014
JUBA - The South Sudan crisis will worsen unless relief organizations are
able to deliver supplies before being cut off by the approaching rainy
season, the humanitarian group CARE warned this week.
"The United Nations has activated the highest level of emergency for South
Sudan and warned of a possible famine in 2015," said Aimee Ansari, country
director for CARE in South Sudan. "This is a wake-up call. If we are not
able to act now and get relief flowing, the nightmare endured by South
Sudanese families over the past few months will be only the beginning. We
need to do everything we can to improve food security and help those
suffering get back on their feet, and we need to start now."
Continued fighting despite a cease-fire agreement on January 23 has made it
difficult to reach many of the hundreds of thousands of people who have
been displaced. CARE has moved back into areas hardest hit by the conflict
as quickly as possible, providing lifesaving water and sanitation services
as well as vital health and protection services for women and girls.
As security improves, CARE is bringing medicine to the worst-affected areas
and conducting assessments so we can address urgent needs. Last week, CARE
delivered medicines to health facilities in Unity and Jonglei states. CARE
was able to land a chartered plane in Twic East County, an area of Jonglei
where it has supported the health system for seven years and which was
inaccessible to aid organizations until now. "We took in almost 1,000 kg of
the most badly-needed medicines and talked to local officials and
residents," said Wouter Schaap, CARE's assistant country director for South
Sudan.
"The number one priority for everyone we talked to was food. They were
already hurting from a bad harvest last year due to massive flooding from
the White Nile River, and damaged and soggy pastures have wreaked havoc
with the livestock they depend on," Schaap said. "The people here have been
virtually cut off from the outside world for two months. So they have
exhausted their food stores. On top of that, there has been an influx of
more than 31,000 people displaced by fighting in other parts of the state,
boosting the local population by more than a third."
"Many of these people are sleeping without any type of shelter or
protection out in the bush along the swamps of the White Nile River,"
Schaap said. "It is mostly women and children and malaria is taking a big
toll, as are intestinal diseases and respiratory infections. The medicine
we are bringing in will help, but these people need mosquito nets, they
need food and they soon will need seed and hand tools in order to replenish
their depleted food stocks, as well as vaccines for their livestock." CARE
is currently designing projects that will help meet these pressing needs.
CARE water and sanitation programs are active in three states and nutrition
activities are getting under way.
The country's already fragile markets and food production systems have
experienced major disruptions and the repercussions will be felt for months
and years to come. "We will work to reduce the likelihood of a protracted
food crisis that is almost assured if these people are left to fend for
themselves," said Ansari. "More than three-quarters of a million people
have been separated from their homes and livelihoods. Their crops from last
year's late planting have withered and rotted in the fields, and their
stocks from the main harvest were seriously depleted by the looting and
destruction that has accompanied the violence. Their cattle have been
driven off or are in poor condition. They are eating the seed stock that
they should be planting.
"Given the continued insecurity and widespread destruction of
infrastructure that has occurred, we face huge logistical challenges
getting help to people," said Ansari. "Once the rains start, by the end of
April, those challenges will get much worse."
*About CARE: *
CARE has been operating in Southern Sudan since 1993, initially providing
humanitarian relief to internally displaced people in Western Equatoria.
The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005 allowed CARE to
expand into Jonglei and Upper Nile States to support returnees from the
refugee camps, and the organization has since broadened its operations to
include development programs.
Received on Wed Feb 19 2014 - 19:25:30 EST