South Sudan: Race against hunger may be lost amid growing displacement in Pibor, Oxfam warns

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Juba- 20/01/2023: The continuing displacements caused by the recent violence in the Pibor Administrative area is likely to cut off hopes of ever reducing the food insecurity levels and meeting basic needs of communities already experiencing severe hunger conditions, if funding to the response is not escalated, Oxfam has warned.

“Some areas of the Greater Pibor have already been in dire state of food insecurity for a very long time – a situation that is identical to where families cannot afford to put a single meal any day, let alone the risk of it worsening further with the current fighting,” says Dr. Manenji Mangundu, Oxfam Country Director in South Sudan.

“Over the last two weeks, we managed to distribute quick impact non-food items to at least 2500 households, as we gather additional items to support more of the displaced persons.

“Together with other agencies, we would like to ensure the displaced get their bare minimum of basic services” he emphasized.

“Communities in Pibor and South Sudan as a whole cannot afford another wave of violence and this escalation in intercommunal conflict means degenerating from recent gains made in silencing the guns and getting closer to achieving basic food security.”

“Such conflict reflects badly on efforts to bring basic necessities to communities that recently faced up with floods and emerged from the effects of Covid-19. We urge communities to take advantage of any opportunity to discuss and reach a consensus on any burning issues,” Manenji says.

According to a recent assessment conducted by agencies, at least 17,000 individuals are sheltering in schools and other facilities within Pibor town. The number will rise as the fighting also affected communities in Likuangole.

ENDS

For further information, Contact:
Dominic Kango, Senior Media and Communications Officer
DKango@oxfam.org.uk,

Notes to Editors:

In December 2022, the United Nations warned of a looming wave of violence. Barely a week later, youth attacked and razed down entire neighborhoods in Pibor.

An interagency assessment puts the figure of those displaced at over 17,000 people.

Funding to South Sudan’s humanitarian appeal has gradually fell below expectation in the past few years. Any escalation in violence means the basic which could have been afforded by the funds raised, may now not be adequate.

According to the IPC report for 2022, over 7-million South Sudanese (more than 60% of the population) are in need of food assistance. This is by far the biggest number of people in need of food assistance per year.

Lack of Funding has affected how humanitarian organizations deliver live-saving services to communities.

Complex drivers of humanitarian crisis, that is armed conflict, floods and intercommunal conflicts that continue to drive communities into displacement, failure to access their land, depletion of livestock, rendering them vulnerable to such funding cuts.

Currently, Oxfam is scaling up its emergence response to fight hunger in areas of programming. Following recent release of the IPC results, more than 8-million people are in need of humanitarian assistance to access food. These areas are part of the priority locations for the organisation’s intervention. Oxfam has been working in South Sudan for over 30 years, with a footprint in at least six sates. Currently Oxfam supports over 500,000 people with humanitarian assistance including clean water, hygiene facilities, food, fuel and income support. We continue to streamline programs with a gender transformative approach to delivering of much needed assistance Akobo, Pibor, Rumbek, Yirol , Lankien, Pibor, amongst others. Through our resilience programs, communities have eked their way back through livelihood and skills development programs.

South Sudan: Race against hunger may be lost amid growing displacement in Pibor, Oxfam warns
Source: Philippines Legacy PH