The future is equal
Ruth, recently arrived in Akobo after conflict came to her town, is one of the 10,000 internally displaced people to receive food from an Oxfam distribution. Photo: Tim Bierley/Oxfam
South Sudan is in the midst of a catastrophic humanitarian crisis driven by over four years of brutal civil war. Half of the population are facing extreme hunger and are in need of urgent aid. Help us provide food, water and sanitation now.
“I have seen a lot in the past seven years in South Sudan, and things are getting worse. Our major concern now is gaining access to locations where people need our help. In some areas, we even have to swim to reach them.”
Following a power crisis which erupted in 2013, South Sudan has spiraled into a conflict, which has spread across most parts of the country and leading to the death of tens of thousands of people.
Over 4 million people – 1 in 3 – have been forced to flee their homes due to this brutal war. Nearly 2.5 million have fled to neighbouring countries. There are now 1 million South Sudanese refugees in Uganda, making up about half of the country’s total refugee population.
Most refugees are women and children. This is the biggest refugee crisis in Africa.
The conflict has pushed the country into an economic free-fall with food and fuel prices skyrocketing and an ever-rising cost of living. Trade and local markets have been disrupted and food stock has depleted.
As people are forced from their homes, they lose their possessions, crops and income, and often get stranded in places where there aren’t enough facilities to support tens of thousands of new arrivals.
Harvests in late 2017 were poor or non-existent for many, this is an extremely worrying sign for the long dry months ahead. Over 7.1 million people – half the country’s population – are facing extreme and deadly hunger. While the war continues the situation can only get worse.
Oxfam canoes transporting vulnerable people who could not make it by themselves to the mainland for the WFP food registration. Photo: Bruno Bierrenbach/Oxfam
We are on the ground racing to get food, water and hygiene items to the most vulnerable people, including thousands who have fled to remote islands in the middle of huge swamps. We’re supporting over 500,000 people with emergency and longer-term support and are also responding to the refugee crisis regionally in Sudan, Uganda and Ethiopia.
Our activities include:
Every day that the conflict continues, South Sudanese people face a threat to their lives.
This is a human-made tragedy, and we are running out of time to stop it getting worse.
Beatrice, 19, fled the war in South Sudan with her husband and young baby after her mother was raped and killed. Today, she lives with her family in Imvepi Refugee Settlement, among other 95,000 people. She is just one of the one million South Sudanese refugees currently hosted in nearby Uganda.
In South Sudan, nearly 5 million people – 40 percent of the population – are facing extreme hunger. “We are seeing communities now at the breaking point”. Read more about the situation and support our humanitarian response.
Today, the world stands on the brink of unprecedented famines. 30 million people are experiencing alarming hunger in South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and north-east Nigeria. Check out our map to see where Africa’s most acute food crises are.
More than half the population of South Sudan – 6.6 million people – are severely hungry, including 2.2 million people at risk of starvation. Yet the humanitarian response remains woefully underfunded and without an urgent increase in aid now, 7.7 million people or two-thirds of the population will face severe food shortages next year, Oxfam warned today.
Food inflation in some East African countries outstrips the global average leaving millions hungry, while food billionaires increased their wealth by $382bn over the last two years.
In reaction to today’s “Global Report on Food Crises” which says that more than 193 million people across 53 countries are experiencing acute hunger and require urgent food, nutrition and livelihoods assistance, Oxfam Global Food Security and Livelihoods expert, Emily Farr, said: “It is deeply concerning to find extreme hunger increasing to a magnitude never seen before. 40 million more people have been pushed to extreme hunger, nearly a 25% surge since last year, and 80% since 2016.”
This report aims to bring the voices and experiences of South Sudanese women to the fore, exploring the motivations and intentions of returning and displaced women in South Sudan. It advocates for a more gender-sensitive and durable solutions approach to population movements in the country.
In South Sudan, nearly 5 million people – 40 percent of the population – are facing extreme hunger. “We are seeing communities now at the breaking point”. Read more about the situation and support our humanitarian response.
Oxfam has a long and well-recognized record of humanitarian relief in times of crisis. When disaster strikes, we respond – delivering high quality lifesaving assistance and essential protection to the most affected.
Since war erupted in South Sudan in mid-December 2013 nearly 4 million people have been displaced and half of the population are facing extreme hunger. Oxfam is currently supporting over 500,000 people with lifesaving assistance as well as development projects.
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