UN urged to improve living conditions for displaced S. Sudanese

International medical charity, Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) on Wednesday called on the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMIS) to improve living conditions for displaced people sheltering in a flood-prone part of a UN base.

In a statement issued in Nairobi, MSF said the lives of 21,000 people are at risk if action is not immediately taken as the displaced are exposed to waterborne diseases and potential epidemics.

"In the first rainfall of the season 150 latrines collapsed, mixing with floodwater. People are living in natural drainage channels as there is no other space and there are 65 people per latrine," Lopez said in the statement.

She said the rains, which will last the best part of six months, are getting heavier and if nothing is done right now, the consequences, already horrific, could become fatal.

The medical charity has also questioned the UN's commitment to meeting the needs of the war-torn country's most vulnerable groups and calls for immediate action to save lives in Tomping camp.

The Tomping UN peacekeeping base, in the capital Juba, has been host to people who fled for their lives since conflicts erupted in December.

The displaced are crowded into low-lying parts of the compound that are known to flood. Diarrhoeal diseases, respiratory infections and skin diseases already make up more than 60 percent of the cases in MSF's clinic in the camp.

The statement comes as peace talks aimed at ending the political crisis in South Sudan were adjourned to April 22.