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UN agencies warn of extreme food insecurity in South Sudan

Xinhua, October 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

Three UN agencies on Thursday warned of risks of famine in parts of South Sudan, calling for unrestricted assistance access, as an analysis said that 3.9 million people nationwide now face severe food insecurity.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) are calling on the warring parties to give urgent and unrestricted access to Unity State, a state in South Sudan, said UN spokesman Farhan Haq at a briefing here.

Unless unrestricted humanitarian access is urgently granted, food insecurity could deteriorate to famine in parts of Unity State, warned the UN agencies in a joint press release.

A newly released Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis shows that at least 30,000 people are living in extreme conditions in Unity State, facing starvation and death. Throughout the country, the IPC analysis showed that 3.9 million people face severe hunger.

The analysis highlighted that the overall nutrition situation remains critical, with Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) among children under five years old above the emergency threshold in the conflict-affected states of Jonglei, Upper Nile and Unity in September.

The three agencies warned that the dire economic situation in the country is contributing to record-high food prices and worsening levels of food insecurity, adding that even areas previously unaffected are now showing signs of severe deterioration.

South Sudan was plunged into violence in December 2013 when fighting erupted between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar.

The conflict soon turned into an all-out war, with the violence taking on an ethnic dimension. The clashes killed thousands of South Sudanese and forced around 1.9 million to flee their homes. Endit