SOUTH SUDAN: Catholic Bishops Appeal for Urgent Humanitarian Support to the country
The Catholic Bishops of South Sudan have called upon the international community for immediate and unconditional intervention to save the lives of the people of South Sudan who are critically in need of humanitarian assistance.
In the statement issued on 23 February 2017, the Bishops said that the food security situation in the country continues to deteriorate since the outbreak of fighting in December 2013.
“Humanitarian Crisis has spiraled with more than three million people fleeing the conflict areas and seeking refuge in neighbouring countries while others internal displaced, all these have disrupted livelihoods with no sources of food and income,” read the statement.
The Bishops further said, “We anticipate very difficult times ahead in the coming months as our people are witnessing mass starvation by virtue of their multiple displacement especially in the states that traditionally produced cereals in surplus as they will be missing the planting season and that will in turn lead to further food insecurity in 2017.”
The Bishops noted that the ongoing fighting and consequently the insecurity that exists in the country have made all humanitarian interventions more than difficult. They called for an immediate and easy movement of humanitarian goods and ensuring the security of humanitarian workforce to carry out the humanitarian response effectively; an immediate stop to the violence to allow a free movements of population especially in the most affected areas and unconditional and unhindered access to urgently cater to the physical needs of the population in the remotest areas;
The Bishops urged Caritas Internationalis and international community to take all necessary steps for immediate action before thousands of innocent lives are carried away.
The latest government report and famine Early Warning System figures predict that 4.9 million people will be in food crisis across the country, many of them close to famine level between now and April 2017. The figure is expected to rise to 5.5 million people at the height of the lean season in July 2017 if nothing is done to curb the severity and spread of the food crisis.
By AMECEA Online News Reporter
