The United Nations on Wednesday called on the international community to do something to help stave off a “humanitarian nightmare” in South Sudan, where escalating clashes have left nearly 200 people dead since March.
The chief of the UN mission in the country, Nicholas Haysom, told the UN Security Council that “there has been a sharp deterioration in the political and security situation, which threatens to unravel the peace gains made in recent years.”
“All our efforts are now focused on preventing a relapse into widespread conflict,” he said.
Tensions have increased in South Sudan over clashes between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those backing his rival, First Vice President Riek Machar, threatening a fragile power-sharing agreement that ended a five-year civil war.
Political instability has also plagued the young nation, which only declared independence in 2011, with international observers urging restraint following the detention of Machar last month.
“In the context of a deplorable downward spiral, we are receiving reports of further mobilization” of forces from both sides, Haysom said, adding that some reports indicated children were being forcibly recruited.
“South Sudan faces one of the worst humanitarian outlooks since independence driven by escalating subnational violence, the spillover from the Sudan conflict, deepening economic collapse, extreme weather and a sharp decline in international aid,” he said.
About 9.3 million people, or three-quarters of the country’s population, is in need of humanitarian aid, and 7.7 million are suffering from severe food insecurity.
South Sudan is also in the grips of its worst cholera outbreak since independence, with nearly 50,000 cases and about 900 deaths.
About 130,000 people have been displaced since March, with thousands of them reportedly crossing into Ethiopia, said Edem Wosornu of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs .
“If the political crisis is not averted, the humanitarian nightmare will become a reality very quickly,” Wosornu warned, noting that aid workers have been limited by funding cuts, especially by the United States.
“With the very worrying outlook, the window of opportunity must be seized to avert a humanitarian nightmare with a relapse of widespread conflict,” she said.
“This demands urgent, concerted, and decisive action on multiple fronts by national and international stakeholders.”
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