Heavy floods hamper humanitarian response in hunger-stricken Pibor

BOR – Humanitarian response efforts in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA), where around 30 people have recently died of starvation, are being severely hampered by heavy flooding that has cut off roads, according to the Minister of Information and Communication.

Oleyo Akuer, the Minister of Information and Communication in GPAA, said that 90% of the estimated 365,342 people across the six counties—Pibor, Gumuruk, Lekuangole, Vertet, Jebel Boma, and Pochalla—are reliant on humanitarian food assistance.

“Right now, people are unhappy because there is no access to food in different places, including Pibor headquarters, and even in remote places like Jebel Boma and Pochalla,” Akuer said in an interview with Sudans Post.

He added that the poor road network between Juba and the GPAA has compounded ongoing efforts by humanitarian agencies to reach the affected population. Akuer noted that the area had not experienced significant rains since the beginning of the year, but heavy rains finally came in July.

“When the rainy season started, roads were cut off, and the main markets in Greater Pibor have run out of food stocks. The situation is bad, and there is no incoming food assistance,” he said.

International charity Oxfam announced Monday that about 12 people died of starvation earlier this month in the GPAA. Manenji Mangundu, Oxfam’s country director in South Sudan, said in a statement that the situation in GPAA is heart-wrenching, with thousands of people, both young and old, going hungry.

Mangundu noted that several children are severely malnourished after going days without food and that civilians have been forced to survive on wild vegetables and desert dates.

According to Mangundu, more than 7 million people in South Sudan are already facing extreme hunger, including nearly 79,000 people experiencing catastrophic levels of food insecurity—more than double last year’s figures.