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4.3 MILLION PEOPLE NOW IN NEED OF ASSISTANCE – SIGNIFICANT INCREASE COMPARED TO THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR
HOW MANY & WHEN:
- As of April 2016, 4.3 million people were estimated to be in Crisis (IPC Phase 3), Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5) and require urgent humanitarian assistance. This is a significant increase compared to the first quarter of 2016 (2.8 million people) and the same period last year (3.8 million).
- In May-July 2016, the number of severely food insecure people is expected to increase further from 4.3 million to 4.8 million in line with seasonal vulnerabilities and the economic crisis.
WHERE - As of April 2016, the highest proportions of populations in Crisis, Emergency and Catastrophe were recorded in Northern and Western Bahr el Ghazal (50%) and Unity (65%) States which is expected to go up by 10% in the projection period (May-July 2016) in both areas. The Greater Upper Nile remains structurally fragile and vulnerable as a result of the protracted conflict.
WHO - The most affected populations are Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and the poor households who are worst hit by the economic crisis, high market prices, as well as conflict related market and trade disruptions.
WHY:
- In April, rising food insecurity was mostly a result of the deepening economic crisis, insecurity, and depleted food stocks from insufficient household production. High levels of acute malnutrition were driven not only by high food insecurity but also sub-optimal child feeding practices and poor water, sanitation and hygiene. Despite the diminished intensity of the armed violence and increased humanitarian access in the most affected areas, the conflict spread to new areas that were previously stable, causing further displacement and damage to livelihoods.
- In May-July, which coincides with the lean season, food and nutrition insecurity is expected to further deteriorate while access to services and delivery of supplies is hampered by the rain and poor infrastructure.
Although Famine is not declared at this time, either at State or County Level, the risk of famine is still looming in parts of Unity State (Leer, Mayendit and Koch) where conflict and other factors can quickly and dramatically escalate.
ACTIONS NEEDED
Continue and expand ongoing interventions to protect and save lives and livelihoods and prevent famine.
Scale up interventions to reduce structural causes and curb food and nutrition insecurity upward trends.
Secure the environment for monitoring food security, nutrition and mortality data in the field to support real-time IPC updates.
The SOUTH SUDAN IPC Process and next steps
- South Sudan IPC Country Analysis: The South Sudan IPC Technical Working Group (SS IPC TWG) undertook the IPC analysis involving consultations with more than 45 members from State and National Levels.
- IPC Quality Assurance Process: Due to the level of severity and the concern for the deterioration of the food and nutrition security, the SS IPC TWG and the IPC Global Steering Committee with the support of the IPC Global Support Unit (GSU) implemented a comprehensive IPC Quality Assurance Process for this analysis. This process included an IPC GSU and Global Partner Real- Time Quality Review of the SS IPC TWG preliminary findings and an independent expert review by a Global IPC Emergency Review Committee (ERC) for the most affected areas identified at risk of famine. Both reviews corroborated the SS IPC TWG IPC findings.
- Final IPC Results: The SS IPC TWG results were validated and officially endorsed by the Government of the Republic of South Sudan. The IPC results are available at this link.
- The next round of IPC Acute analysis will be conducted in July-August 2016.