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SOUTH SUDAN / FOOD CRISIS

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is in a race against time to mobilize vital funds to feed millions of people in South Sudan as hunger advances on a population in dire need of humanitarian assistance. WFP
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2513390
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unifeed191212a
Description

STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / FOOD CRISIS
TRT: 1:59
SOURCE: WFP
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WFP ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS

DATELINE: 3-6 DECEMBER 2019, PIBOR, SOUTH SUDAN / ROME, ITALY /FILE

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Shotlist

3 DECEMBER 2019, PIBOR, SOUTH SUDAN

1. Various shots, aerials of floods

3 NOVEMBER 2019, MABAN, SOUTH SUDAN

2. Tracking shot, people wade through flooded road
3. Med shot, people and vehicle on a flooded road
4. Med shot, truck in mud

6 DECEMBER 2019, ROME, ITALY

5. SOUNDBITE (English) David Beasley, Executive Director, WFP:
“South Sudan is in trouble, serious trouble. Not just because of the conflict but because of the rains and the flooding that has hit in the last few months. It is much worse than we had anticipated. In fact, if we don’t get a USD 100 million in the next few weeks and next few months, we are literally talking about famine in the next few months. We need support; we need help; and we need it now. It is not about WFP. It is about the little boys and little girls and families that we need to save."

10 OCTOBER 2019, THAKER, SOUTH SUDAN

6. Various shots, food distribution

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Storyline

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is in a race against time to mobilize vital funds to feed millions of people in South Sudan as hunger advances on a population in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

Catastrophic flooding over recent months is pushing the country and its people towards a precipice as the year ends amid intense political instability.

Up to 5.5 million South Sudanese are projected to be going hungry in early 2020 – according to forecasts from the last food security data prepared by Government and United Nations experts. The number of people in need is likely to increase because of the catastrophic level of destruction caused by floods since October following a drought that hammered parts of the country earlier in the year.

“South Sudan is in trouble, serious trouble. Not just because of the conflict but because of the rains and the flooding that has hit in the last few months,” said WFP Executive Director David Beasley. “In fact, if we don't get funding in the next few weeks and months, we are literally talking about famine. We need support, we need help and we need it now,” he added.

Close to one million people have been directly affected by flooding that destroyed 73,000 metric tons of potential harvests and wiped out tens of thousands of cattle and goats on which people depend for survival.

Humanitarian assistance provides a lifeline in most areas of South Sudan. In 2019, WFP ramped up its assistance to reach 4.6 million with life-saving support but now needs USD270 million for the first half of 2020. Of this, WFP needs USD100 million in the next month to buy and pre-position food ahead of the rainy season in May 2020.

The Government declared a state of emergency in late October in Bahr El Ghazal, Greater Upper Nile and Greater Equatoria because of the floods, calling for international assistance to be stepped up.

Famine in South Sudan was defeated after four months in 2017 by a concerted large-scale humanitarian response. Experts now say the country’s food security outlook has never been so dire.

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