UN aid officials report 82 cases of severe malnourishment among children in Juba, the capital of South Sudan. These children are staying at UN bases because their parents fear to go back to their homes.
Latest updates from the UN Humanitarian Coordination Agency (OCHA) also include new figures on estimated displacement. The total number has now risen to 769,800, or about 7% of the population, comprising 646,400 internally displaced (IDPs) and 123,400 refugees.
In a section of the latest OCHA report on nutrition, it is also states that in Juba out of 5,760 children screened for malnutrition, 82 children were found with severe malnutrition and 281 children with ‘moderate acute malnutrition’.
“Across the two sites, 82 children have been admitted for treatment of severe malnutrition,” disclosed the agency, referring to the two bases known as UN House and UN Tongping.
Together the two UN bases in Juba shelter 36,242 people, according to registration data current to 25 January, released by the Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster, a newly established aid mechanism in the country. Most of those sheltering at the two bases are from the Nuer ethnic group.
OCHA estimated as of 17 January that there were 574,500 people in total displaced, and as of 24 January that there were 687,700 displaced.
The new figure of 769,800, current to 27 January, revises earlier estimates for Jonglei and Upper Nile, reflecting new information gathered during humanitarian assessment missions to Old Fangak, Phom and Wau Shiluk.
In spite of the rising overall figure, the UN agency also points out, “With uneasy calm returning to key towns, more civilians were seen to return to Bor and leave UN bases in Bentiu and Malakal.
Among other key concerns, according to the same report, is “limited space within UNMISS bases (outside Juba) for decommissioning and setting up new latrines and delayed deployment of health staff and health supplies. “
Photo: IDPs in Bentiu (AP/Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin)