JUBA – United Nations agencies in South Sudan are stepping up responses in the wake of devastating floods across the country that have affected nearly over 1 million people and displaced 90,000 from their homes.
An estimated 1,066,000 people were affected by floods in South Sudan from 1 July 2020 to 31 January 2021.
Some 495,000 people were affected in Jonglei State and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area, the worst affected areas.
Flood-affected people’s urgent needs included food and livelihood support, emergency shelter and non-food items (ES/NFI), water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health and protection services.
Flood-response activities have been considerably constrained by persistent heavy rains, infrastructure damage and reduced physical accessibility, funding constraints, and insecurity.
Speaking to reporters during a press conference in Juba on Thursday, Acting UN Humanitarian Coordinator, Arafat Jamal, vowed to scale up the response to help the flood victims.
“We will be able to help those people in Ayod but they are not the only ones in South Sudan is affected by floods. We know that all over the country especially in Bentiu,” Jamal told reporters at Thursday’s press conference in Juba.
“We went to Ayod but our response will be countrywide and it needs to count for basic needs for the people,” Jamal added.
He said the humanitarian actors will respond with essential shelter, food, healthcare, water and sanitation, and other urgent needs
“They will be getting general food distribution which is the mixture of food, oil, and protein from the World Food Program,” he said.
The Acting UN Resident Coordinator said persisting rains have washed away crops forcing women and children to eat grasses to stay alive.
“One of the most moving and shocking things for me is when someone threw pieces of grass on the ground and said this is what we have to eat,” he said.
“They said we have this (grass) and when we eat it we get upset and fall sick but this is all we have to eat and to me, when I saw these people suffering, I see human dignity that is affected,” he added.