The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) and UNICEF Thursday warned that not less than 60,000 children in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state are at risk of death from malnutrition as supplies were hampered due to ongoing fighting in the country.
Upper Nile State has faced the highest rates of malnutrition in South Sudan, with over 300,000 children affected by moderate or severe malnutrition in the past year, the organisations said in separate statements.
Intensified fighting along the White Nile River has meant no humanitarian supplies have reached the area in almost a month. The river is the main humanitarian supply corridor into Upper Nile.
The organisations said as the rainy season progresses and conflict continues to displace families, the spread of waterborne diseases and increased food insecurity is expected to contribute to a rise in the number of malnourished children.
WFP and UNICEF had set to treat moderate and severe cases of malnutrition by the end of May but the conflict has hampered the life-saving treatment programs across the state to a standstill, impacting tens of thousands of children undergoing treatment.
In mid-April, barges carrying 1,000 metric tons of food and nutrition supplies bound for Upper Nile state were forced to return due to insecurity, the statements said.
“Children are already the first to suffer during emergencies, if we can’t get nutrition supplies through, we are likely to see escalating malnutrition in areas already at breaking point,” said Mary-Ellen McGroarty, WFP Representative in South Sudan.
“This is already one of the most food-insecure regions in South Sudan with extremely high rates of malnutrition, in these situations every day makes a difference for a malnourished child in need of life-saving treatment,” McGroarty added.
MG/as/APA