Media Home
UN Web TV
UN PhotoUnifeed
WFP / SOUTH SUDAN REFUGEES MALNUTRITION
STORY: WFP / SOUTH SUDAN REFUGEES MALNUTRITION
TRT: 03:33
SOURCE: WFP
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WFP ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 12, 14 SEPTEMBER 2023, RENK / MALAKAL, SOUTH SUDAN
14 SEPTEMBER 2023, RENK, SOUTH SUDAN
1. Various shots, flooded temporary refuge camp in Renk, where over 1000 people arrive from Sudan every day. The majority are South Sudanese returnees. Having faced a harrowing journey to escape the conflict in Sudan, many arrive here in already dire state
2. Various shots, people building temporary shelters for themselves in the mud caused by the rainy season.
3. Med shot, mothers with their children waiting to be screened at the WFP nutrition centre, around one in five children crossing the border suffer from malnutrition
4. Various shots, Ngacheu fled Khartoum with Cheng, the youngest of her 8 children, only 9 months old, Cheng suffers from severe malnutrition
5. SOUNDBITE (Nuer) Ngacheu, mother:
“When we ran from Khartoum, we left everything behind, and now we are suffering here. Especially because of the rain and the health of my child. I can’t do anything else because he needs constant care.”
6. Med shot, Ngacheu is screened and receives specialized nutritious food provided by UNICEF
7. SOUNBITE (English) Kathleen Inglis, Emergency Coordinator, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP):
“Since I’ve been here I’ve seen the condition of people deteriorating rapidly – those that are crossing the border as the conflict continues. Really to see a malnourished child in a mother’s arms, not knowing whether that child is going to survive the night is incredibly confronting. And that is what the UN is here trying to support to make sure that we are providing that lifesaving assistance so people can survive, not only their entry but also their onward journeys into South Sudan.”
8. Various shots, Refugees leaving on barges, Renk is ill-equipped to assist such a large influx of people and there are no roads to transport refugees onwards, the only out is on barges like this one that is heading for Malakal – a journey which can take up to 3 days or longer
12 SEPTEMBER 2023, MALAKAL, SOUTH SUDAN
9. Various shots, WFP food distribution in a temporary camp for families arriving from Renk stay.
10. Various shots, refugee family cooking and eating WFP food in temporary camp.
A hunger emergency is looming on the border between South Sudan and Sudan as families fleeing fighting in Sudan continue to cross the border every day, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned today (03 Oct).
New data gathered by WFP shows that among the nearly 300,000 people who have arrived in South Sudan in the last five months, one in five children are malnourished and 90 percent of families say they are going multiple days without eating.
Almost all of those who have crossed the border since fighting broke out in Sudan in mid-April are South Sudanese and they are returning to a country already facing unprecedented humanitarian needs. A new food security assessment completed by WFP shows that 90 percent of returnee families are experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity. Screening data from the border crossing found that almost 20 percent of children under five and more than a quarter of pregnant and breastfeeding women are malnourished.
“We are seeing families leave one disaster for another as they flee danger in Sudan only to find despair in South Sudan,” says Mary-Ellen McGroarty, WFP’s Country Director in South Sudan. “The humanitarian situation for returnees is unacceptable and WFP is struggling to meet the mounting humanitarian needs at the border. We simply do not have the resources to provide life-saving assistance to those who need it most.”
The rainy season has made conditions at crowded transit centres and border crossings even more difficult, with flooding worsening food insecurity and contributing to the spread of disease. Many families report being robbed and experiencing violence as they escaped the war in Sudan and are crossing the border to South Sudan with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Those arriving today are in an even more vulnerable condition than families that fled in the early weeks of the conflict.
WFP is providing food assistance to meet the immediate needs of the families at the border, delivering hot meals, high-energy biscuits, dry rations, and cash-based transfers, as well as providing specialized nutrition support for children and mothers.
But WFP urgently requires more than US$120 million to increase support for people fleeing Sudan’s war into South Sudan over the next few months. Significant resources are also needed to help people move onwards from the crowded border area and to support them as they rebuild their lives in South Sudan, a country many of the returnees have never actually lived in.
Across South Sudan, WFP has a funding gap of US$536 million over the next six months and was only able to reach 40 percent of food insecure people with food assistance in 2023. Those who are receiving assistance only receive half rations due to funding shortfalls which is further entrenching food insecurity.
Download
There is no media available to download.
