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Home East Africa Over 600,000 people affected by floods and conflict in South Sudan

Over 600,000 people affected by floods and conflict in South Sudan

by Editor lll
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Over 623,000 people have been affected by recurring flash floods and wars in South Sudan, according to the United Nations humanitarian organization.

The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) says individuals affected are from 27 counties across eight states, according to a September humanitarian snapshot seen by The EastAfrican on Friday.

“The states of Junglei and Unity were the heaviest devastated, accounting for 58 percent of the people affected, followed by Upper Nile, Western, and Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal. Food insecurity was widespread in almost two-thirds of the flood-affected counties.

“Schools, homes, health facilities and water sources were inundated, impacting people’s access to basic services.

Physical access remained a major challenge for humanitarian organisations to assess and respond to the needs of flood-affected people,” reads the snapshot the covers between May and September this year.

UNOCHA estimates that sub-national violence in Tambura County of Western Equatoria has affected about 80,000 people.

“The violence has been going on since June, and getting to people who have been touched by the conflict has been difficult. Approximately 650 individuals were moved to Yei town as a result of fighting between armed groups in Yei County, Central Equatoria.

“Some took to the woods, while others are said to have escaped to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Sub-national violence has been reported in Jonglei’s Pibor, Akobo, and Nyirol counties, as well as Tonj North in Warrap,” according to OCHA.

On October 1, a senior official from Warrap State told The East African that the state’s continual destructive floods had killed at least 20 people.

The official added that at least 17,500 people were displaced according to the assessment carried out by the State Relief and Rehabilitation Commission.

Last month, UNOCHA said at least 380,000 people from six states in South Sudan were displaced by flash floods and numerous waves of inter-communal clashes.

Last year, torrential rains and flash floods displaced thousands of people and destroyed several homes across South Sudan. The most affected areas were in Jonglei, Pibor, Upper Nile, Unity, Western, and Eastern Equatoria states.

According to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) Climate Prediction, heavy rainfall was expected to continue in northern and central parts of South Sudan until mid of September.

Last month, South Sudan’s Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management Peter Mayen appealed to the cabinet to release $10 million dollars for flood response. But there has been no official response to his plea.

Despite a period of relative stability, UNOCHA says more than 7 million people still need humanitarian assistance across South Sudan due to the cumulative effects of years of conflict, chronic vulnerabilities and weak essential services. 

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