HIGHLIGHTS

• Humanitarian partners are finalizing a response plan to prepare for the possible return of people displaced from Abyei, following the withdrawal of non-UN armed forces

• The Government of South Sudan’s new 2012/13 austerity budget heightens humanitarian concerns about rising food insecurity

• Continued influxes of Sudanese refugees and persisting water shortages at refugee sites in Upper Nile and Unity states remain key concerns of the humanitarian community