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NEW YORK - 8 Sep 2020

South Sudan among countries at risk of famine: UN Chief

Food distribution in Pieri, Bieh State on 5 February, 2019. (WFP/Gabriela Vivacqua)
Food distribution in Pieri, Bieh State on 5 February, 2019. (WFP/Gabriela Vivacqua)

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that there is a risk of famine and widespread food insecurity in four countries affected by conflict including South Sudan, Congo, northeast Nigeria, and Yemen endangering the lives of millions of people.

The Associated Press reported last Friday, that the UN chief in a note to the Security Council members said the four countries rank “among the largest food crises in the world,” according to the 2020 Global Report on Food Crises and recent food security analyses. 

“Action is needed now. Having endured years of armed conflict and related violence, the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Yemen, northeast Nigeria, and South Sudan are again facing the specter of heightened food insecurity and potentially famine,” Guterres said adding that funding is low.

The U.N. chief said there are key indicators in several other conflict-hit countries including Somalia, Burkina Faso, and Afghanistan.

Guterres said food insecurity in conflict-affected countries “is now further exacerbated by natural disasters, economic shocks, and public health crises, all compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

He said core humanitarian programs may have to be reduced or suspended with reduced funding.

In South Sudan’s Jonglei and Greater Pibor administrative area, Guterres said the situation deteriorated rapidly in the first half of 2020, “fueled by escalating violence and insecurity.” 

According to the UN Chief, fighting has been accompanied by widespread attacks on agricultural and pastoral land and the looting of livestock and food, leaving more than 1.4 million people in the area facing acute food insecurity, and at least 350,000 children suffer from severe or moderate acute malnutrition.