The president of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) arrived in South Sudan today to view the devastating effects that the country's violence is having on the millions of people on the brink of extreme hunger.

"The number of hungry and displaced South Sudanese is overwhelming," said ICRC President Peter Maurer.

 "The staggering scale of suffering is evidence of the cumulative effect of 3.5 years of a style of fighting that appears calibrated to maximize misery. Warfare should not directly impact the lives of so many civilians,” he added.

Maurer is scheduled to meet with high-level government officials and visit ICRC food, medical and water assistance operations in the field in South Sudan.

He will then travel to the Imvepi and Rhino refugee camps in Uganda to meet with some of the South Sudanese refugees there and hear about the challenges they face.

Nearly 2 million people have fled across South Sudan's borders, and 2 million more are internally displaced. The number of family members separated by conflict and reunited by the ICRC has reportedly increased this year compared with 2016.