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Floods affect 809,000 in South Sudan

By Edith Mutethya in Nairobi, Kenya | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2021-11-23 16:59

Massive flooding in South Sudan has so far affected 809,000 people, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 

The UN agency have named the floods that have affected areas along the Nile and Lol rivers, and the Sudd marshlands since May, as the worst and most prolonged. Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile states are the worst affected.

Additionally, 33 of the country's 78 counties have been affected by floods, and 50 percent were initially assessed as possible cholera hotspots.

The UN agency warned the situation might worsen further following breakdown of health service provisions due to flooding, leading to high incidences of endemic and epidemic diseases such as cholera, measles and malaria.

Failure to provide acute malnutrition services in flood-affected counties in Jonglei, Unity, Upper Nile and Warrap states, will put the lives of more than 277,960 people at risk, the UN agency warned.

The situation has been compounded by an escalation of violence in areas such as Tambura, which have affected 100,000 people.

Due to floods and instability, the country's food insecurity is at record levels. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates 8.3 million people in South Sudan are in need of humanitarian assistance. 

Additionally, 1.4 million children under the age of 5 are expected to be acutely malnourished by the end of the year. 

According to the World Food Program, 2.5 million people in the country are at emergency or worse levels of acute food insecurity. 

On Monday, Martin Griffiths, emergency relief coordinator, allocated $13 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund for an urgent response to South Sudan flooding.

This is the third year in a row large parts of South Sudan have been flooded.

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