S. Sudan’s floods affected IDPs grapple with worsening food insecurity

JUBA – South Sudan’s floods affected displaced persons currently seeking shelter at Mangalla temporarily designated camp continues to grapple with worsening food and insecurity exacerbated by more than six years of conflict.

According to the spot check conducted by the Sudans Post, the IDPs, many of whom are mostly women, elderly and children, are living in a crowded makeshift without adequate health care facilities and food.

Martha Abiar, a displaced mother of one, said her child is starving at the camps without adequate food and proper medication.

“Since I came to Mangalla with my daughter without single belongings, after floods submerged everything I had, life has been unbearable in this place,” Abiar told Sudans Post in an interview.

“When my child got sick yesterday, I took her to the nearby primary health care for treatment, the public health officer at the facility said there were no anti-malarial drugs,” Abiar said.

She said the cases of diarrhea have increased amongst the children and this is attributed by poor hygiene.

“We are crying every day, and asking ourselves why we are left to suffer like this as if we don’t have our brothers and sisters across who can just intervene and rescue us with anything they have,” said Abiar.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) initially estimated that over 1 million people have been affected by floods since July.

Jonglei State is the worst affected with 404,000 people, mostly women, and children.

Farms and crops have been destroyed by the flood water, leaving many children at the risk of starvation.

Majority of internally displaced persons (IDPs), particularly from Jonglei state said their living conditions at the camp is deteriorating day-by-day due to lack of life-saving needs like food, clean drinking water and medicine.

One of the displaced woman, identified as Mama, not her real name said people lack tents for shelter and the little provided to them by the local charity organization is not enough since many families continue to arrive daily.

“There are a lot of things we are lacking here, we don’t have access to clean drinking water,” she said. “We don’t have boreholes and the water from the nearby river is dirty.”

“If you drink from this dirty water it will cause you diarrhea. We don’t have blankets and a proper house to sleep in,” she added.

Alier John, one of the displaced community leaders, called on humanitarian organizations to swiftly aid their situation, adding that World Vision should resume registration of the daily arrival.

“We have a big challenge regarding the registration of IDPs by the World Vision. They have registered some IDPs but cut off the process. They have not come back again to register all the IDPs,” Alier said.

He said more than 400 households continue to arrive at Mangalla camp daily as the water levels remain high.