The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says it needs $76.8 million to provide lifesaving assistance to displaced and conflict-affected populations across South Sudan in 2017.
In a statement seen by Radio Tamazuj yesterday, the agency said some 4.9 million people are facing severe food insecurity and that 1.84 million are displaced internally, in addition to approximately 1.2 million who have fled to neighbouring countries.
“Needs soared over the course of 2016 as the crisis spread to previously relatively stable regions, and deepened in Greater Upper Nile,” said IOM South Sudan Chief of Mission William Barriga. “As civilians continue to bear the brunt of the violence, a political solution to the ongoing crisis is needed urgently.”
The international organization further said as needs grow and worsen, humanitarian workers are facing increasing difficulty in accessing affected populations due to insecurity and bureaucratic impediments, complicating efforts to reach the most vulnerable and compounding existing needs.
IOM pointed out that its 2017 consolidated appeal in response to the expanding crisis, highlights emergency humanitarian assistance based on existing capacity, focusing on the most urgent needs through health, logistics, shelter, and water, sanitation and hygiene assistance, as well as camp coordination and camp management and mental health and psychosocial support programming.
The agency promised to continue providing assistance at displacement sites, including protection of civilian sites, collective centres and other areas of displacement. Response teams will sustain robust efforts to reach populations in remote and often volatile areas, according to the statement.
IOM noted that it is mindful of the need to protect development gains that were achieved prior to the July 2016 crisis and build the foundations for post-conflict recovery, saying it will continue to carry out multi-dimensional programmes guided by peace-building and development principles.
“IOM’s Transition and Recovery and Migration Management programmes will continue to operate alongside the overall humanitarian response in areas where conditions allow, emphasizing the link between relief and development” partly reads the statement.
IOM has had an operational presence in South Sudan since 2005, establishing a country office in 2011 following the country’s independence. Immediately after the conflict erupted in December 2013, IOM restructured its activities in response to the emergency.
Today, IOM South Sudan remains one of the Organization’s largest missions, with 450 staff stationed across the country to implement humanitarian, transition and recovery, and migration management activities.
Photo: IOM distributes water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies in Kurwai, South Sudan. Copyright IOM 2015