South Sudan Humanitarian Bulletin Issue 2 | 20 February 2018

HIGHLIGHTS

• Aid agencies provide assistance and protection to over 5.4 million of people in South Sudan.

• Renewed fighting in multiple locations of Jonglei and Unity forces thousands of people to flee their homes, with some crossing to Ethiopia as refugees.

• Funding appeal for US$1.5 billion launched to support refugees fleeing the worsening humanitarian situation in South Sudan.

• More than 18,000 people receive food, health and nutrition assistance in Wau's Great Baggari area, as humanitarian access to the Western Bahr el Ghazal region continues to improve.

• South Sudan declares the end of its longest and largest cholera outbreak, with no new cases of cholera reported in over seven weeks.

Aid agencies assisted 5.4 million people in South Sudan in 2017

Aid agencies provided humanitarian assistance and protection to over 5.4 million people in need in South Sudan, out of a total of 6.2 million people initially targeted under the 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan. Over 5 million people were reached with life-saving food assistance and emergency livelihoods support, in a year when South Sudan faced the worst food crisis since the country’s independence in 2011.

In the first half of 2017, hunger and malnutrition reached unprecedented levels after famine was declared in Mayendit and Leer in February, with some 100,000 people facing starvation there and a further one million people classified as being on the brink of famine.

Due to early warning and robust action, humanitarians stopped localized famine by June 2017. Yet, country-wide, 5.1 million people (48 per cent of the total population) are currently classified as severely food insecure, with 20,000 in Humanitarian Catastrophe status, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) projections.

Malnutrition also worsened compared to the same period in 2016, with surveys showing malnutrition rates in most communities well above the World Health Organization’s emergency threshold of 15 percent, and more than 30 percent of the population malnourished in several counties. More than 1.1 million children under the age of five are forecast to be malnourished in 2018, including nearly 300,000 severely malnourished and at a heightened risk of death.

In other forms of response during 2017, more than 2 million were provided with access to improved water sources. Almost 2 million people benefited from child protection and gender-based violence (GBV) services as well as mine awareness education. Nearly 900,000 people were assisted with emergency shelter and vital non-food items, including blankets, hygiene kits and mosquito nets.

In addition, around 900,000 children under the age of five, and pregnant and lactating women with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM), were assisted with emergency nutritional assistance, and around 400,000 children were supported with access to education in emergencies through established, rehabilitated or constructed learning spaces.

Over 2.5 million were provided with health assistance and more than 600,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) were assisted with camp coordination and camp management services. More than 200 humanitarian partners were supported with logistics services, including transportation of aid workers and cargo.

In 2017, a total of US$1.19 billion was received by humanitarian partners out of US$1.64 billion originally requested by the HRP. The three best-funded sectors were the Food Security and Livelihoods (US$467 million), Nutrition (US$101 million) and WASH (US$50 million) As the conflict in South Sudan enters its fifth year in 2018, the humanitarian crisis has continued to intensify and expand. With the compounding effects of ongoing offensives, widespread violence and a deteriorating economic situation, 7 million people – more than one in two across the country – will need humanitarian assistance in 2018.