Renewed violence in South Sudan has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and deepened an already severe humanitarian crisis, with children bearing the brunt, a senior UNICEF official said on Friday.
Ted Chaiban, deputy executive director of UNICEF, said at least 286,000 people have been forced from their homes in recent months due to fighting in Jonglei state and surrounding areas.
“Many already vulnerable children are now in a precarious situation,” he told reporters in Juba after a five-day visit to the country.
Chaiban described rapidly deteriorating conditions in remote areas, including the town of Shril in northern Jonglei, where the population has surged from about 6,000 to 30,000 in just weeks, with an additional 25,000 people sheltering in nearby villages along the Sobat River.
Many of the newly displaced have arrived with little or nothing, he said, recounting meeting families surviving on leaves boiled into porridge.
“They arrived with the clothes on their backs,” he said, adding that urgent needs include food, clean water, shelter and medical care.
The conflict has triggered what UNICEF described as a growing protection crisis, with hundreds of children separated from their families.
Chaiban said at least 540 unaccompanied children have been identified, many separated during chaotic escapes from violence. Others, he added, were reportedly abducted by armed groups.
“Several of the women I met had lost children on the journey to find safety,” he said.
UNICEF and its partners are working to trace families and provide psychosocial support to affected children, but the scale of the need is rising.
Health facilities looted
Humanitarian efforts are being undermined by widespread destruction and looting of critical infrastructure.
Chaiban said at least 28 health facilities have been damaged or destroyed in Jonglei this year, alongside water systems essential for safe drinking supplies.
In one location, a primary healthcare centre had been burned, its vaccine storage destroyed and solar-powered equipment stripped.
“Lives depend on this infrastructure,” he said, warning that dwindling global aid budgets make it increasingly difficult to replace damaged facilities.
The insecurity has also made aid delivery more costly and complex, forcing agencies to rely on air transport instead of roads in some areas.
The latest violence is compounding long-standing challenges in South Sudan, one of the world’s poorest countries despite its oil wealth.
Even before the recent escalation, more than 2 million children were at risk of acute malnutrition, while around 2.8 million children were out of school — one of the highest rates globally.
Chaiban warned that the current crisis risks reversing years of fragile progress in health, nutrition and education.
Humanitarian agencies are also grappling with shrinking resources as global attention shifts to other conflicts.
Chaiban pointed to crises in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere as factors straining international aid budgets.
“Resources are much more scarce … and much more precious,” he said.
UNICEF has delivered more than 200 metric tonnes of supplies so far, including therapeutic food, vaccines and sanitation materials, but officials say funding gaps remain significant.
UNICEF called for safe and unhindered access to all affected populations, including areas that remain difficult to reach due to insecurity.
Chaiban also urged all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law and protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.
“Health facilities, water systems and schools must not be targeted or looted,” he said.
The agency also called on South Sudan’s authorities to increase investment in basic social services, including paying frontline health workers and teachers.
Chaiban noted that some health workers had gone unpaid for months, undermining already fragile service delivery.
“This is part of a social contract between citizens and their government,” he said.
Aid agencies are racing to scale up assistance before the onset of the rainy season, which is expected to worsen access constraints and increase the risk of disease outbreaks such as malaria and cholera.
Flooding, a recurring problem in parts of South Sudan, could further isolate vulnerable communities.
“We have to move fast,” Chaiban said. “The window to reach people is narrowing.”
Despite the scale of the crisis, UNICEF stressed that humanitarian aid alone cannot resolve the situation.
“The current crisis risks reversing hard-won gains,” Chaiban said, calling for an immediate end to violence and a return to political dialogue.
“No progress can be made without peace.”
South Sudan, which gained independence in 2011, has faced repeated cycles of conflict, displacement and humanitarian crises. Intercommunal violence, climate shocks and economic instability continue to drive widespread needs, particularly among children and women.