The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | UNICEF , UNOG , UNITED NATIONS
UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing: South Sudan - Humanitarian Crisis - UNICEF
“We are going through the worst humanitarian crisis since independence”, says UNICEF ahead of South Sudan’s 10 years anniversary
A record 4,5 million children – two out of three – are in desperate need of humanitarian support, UNICEF warned today, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the country’s independence on July 9.
“We are actually going through the worst humanitarian crisis since independence 10 years ago”, said Mads Oyen, UNICEF’s Chief field operations in South Sudan, speaking today at a news briefing at the United Nations in Geneva.
With a child mortality rate being among one of the highest in the world with 1 in 10 children not expected to reach their fifth birthday, the Child Rights Agency is strongly appealing to donors to not reduce their contributions for UNICEF in South Sudan.
High levels of food insecurity are of particular concern. Some 1.4 million children are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year, the highest figure since 2013. More than 300,000 children – the highest number ever in the country – are expected to suffer from the worst form of malnutrition and are at risk of dying if treatment is not provided.
“There is nothing between humanitarian assistance and no assistance, and that is why we are appealing to donors to really put South Sudan in a separate category where we don’t cut, because any cuts again will result in immediate impact, because it is not a question of a weak government safety net, there is no safety net”, stated Mads Oyen.
According to UNICEF, there is no safety net on nutrition, on health, on water and sanitation and neither on child protection.
“Triggering factors include the continued violence and insecurity - both political violence and armed conflict - as well as inter-communal violence with breakdowns of law and order at local levels, with cycles of revenge killing, rapes and so on, as well as the impact of climate change and flooding”, said UNICEF’s Chief of field operations in South Sudan. The changing weather patterns are extremely disruptive in most difficult areas.
At the moment there are “8,3 million people need humanitarian assistance and 4,5 million of those are children. Those numbers have never been higher”.
Out of the USD 180 million funding appeal to assist the most vulnerable children this year, UNICEF has received so far only one third of it.
“South Sudan is really one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world and one of the most forgotten and we have the highest percentage of children in need in the world as part of the total population”.
The country has currently 3,2 million refugees outside and 1,6 million internally displaced people (IDP). South Sudan declared independence from Sudan in 2011, after two civil wars. Only two years after independence, the country fell into another civil war, which is estimated to have killed almost 400,000 people. Today South Sudan ranks 187th out of 189 on the Human Development Index, and 179 out of 180 on another leading index that measures public sector corruption.
-ends-
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying, a cloudy day.
- Wide shot, a near-empty Room XXVII in line with COVID-19 distancing measures, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Mads Oyen, Chief Field operations in South Sudan, UNICEF: “We are actually going through the worst humanitarian crisis since independence 10 years ago”.
- Medium shot, journalist with mask on laptop
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Mads Oyen, Chief Field operations in South Sudan, UNICEF: “There is nothing between humanitarian assistance and no assistance, and that is why we are appealing to donors to really put South Sudan in a separate category where we don’t cut, because any cuts again will result in immediate impact, because it is not a question of a weak government safety net, there is no safety net”.
- Medium shot, journalists in room filmed from behind
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Mads Oyen, Chief Field operations in South Sudan, UNICEF: “Triggering factors include the continued violence and insecurity - both political violence and armed conflict - as well as inter-communal violence with breakdowns of law and order at local levels, with cycles of revenge killing, rapes and so on, as well as the impact of climate change and flooding.”
- Medium shot, journalist with mask
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Mads Oyen, Chief Field operations in South Sudan, UNICEF: “8,3 million people need humanitarian assistance and 4,5 million of those are children. Those numbers have never been higher”.
- Medium shot, journalists in the room
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Mads Oyen, Chief Field operations in South Sudan, UNICEF: “South Sudan is really one of the worst humanitarian crisis in the world and one of the most forgotten and we have the highest percentage of children in need in the world as part of the total population”.
- Medium shot, monitor with podium in background
- Medium shot, journalist listening
- Medium shot, cameraman filming
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Un nouveau rapport du Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies aux droits de l'homme sur la République démocratique du Congo évoque le spectre de crimes de guerre et de crimes contre l'humanité dans le Nord et le Sud-Kivu.,
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC
A high-level independent rights probe into the Sudan crisis on Tuesday condemned the many grave crimes committed against civilians by all parties to the war, citing disturbing evidence indicating that they had been “deliberately targeted, displaced and starved”.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Ukraine: ‘Relentless’ attacks rattle health system as winter approaches: WHO
Ambulances attacked, chronically ill patients lacking care and no peace in sight: for millions of Ukrainians, the run-up to another winter of war is just the latest life-or-death challenge they face, the UN health agency (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his report on Sri Lanka to the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his global update to the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
A UN report on the Democratic Republic of Congo raises specter of war crimes and crimes against humanity in North and South Kivu, according to UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.
1
1
1
Edited News | WMO
As billions of people continue to breathe polluted air that causes more than 4.5 million premature deaths every year, UN climate experts on Friday highlighted how damaging microscopic smoke particles from wildfires play their part, travelling half-way across the world.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence made the following comment on the on-going presidential election process in Cameroon at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN Human Rights Office released a new report on Myanmar, describing death, destruction and desperation which reflect atrocities committed in 2017.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , IFRC , UNHCR
Afghanistan: Humanitarians scramble to reach survivors of deadly quake; response at ‘breaking point’
In remote eastern Afghanistan, aid workers are racing to assist survivors of Sunday’s devastating earthquake as the death toll continues to climb, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, repeated his urgent call for a ceasefire in Gaza on Friday, amid increased military Israeli activity in the enclave’s largest city.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
Amid reports of increased Israeli military operations across Gaza City on Friday, UN aid agencies repeated urgent warnings of ongoing famine and a likely rise in preventable disease, linked to the dire living conditions in the war-shattered enclave.