Top humanitarian officials from the United Nations, European Union and United States met with representatives of donor governments in Washington, DC on Saturday to discuss the crisis in South Sudan, which they say is ‘on the brink of famine.’
Rajiv Shah, the chief of the US overseas development agency (USAID) said, “Today, indicators tell us that South Sudan is on the brink of famine, and it’s clear that the world must now do more to address this crisis.”
He was speaking at the meeting attended also by the head of UN OCHA, the EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, and ministers from Norway, Denmark, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Kenya, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
The UN, US and EU issued a joint ‘call for action’ at the conference, which advocated for three things: First, an end to fighting; second, a boost in humanitarian funding over the next three months; third, respect for international humanitarian law in South Sudan.
According to the UN coordinating agency, aid agencies face a huge funding gap of nearly US$800 million. This has prevented aid operations from scaling up to the size proposed by humanitarian officials in advance of the rainy season, when rains will limit access to many affected areas of South Sudan.
Also present at the conference were representatives from regional organizations, including the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Islamic Development Bank, the African Union, and heads of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Oxfam, InterAction and Médecins Sans Frontières.
Photo: USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah