Off the wire
• New people-to-people exchange mechanism to boost China-South Africa ties: vice premier  • Latvian government coalition gives nod to sweeping tax reforms  • 25 graft cases registered in Tanzania's newly formed anti-corruption court  • Tanzanian authorities destroy 70 acres of marijuana  • Rwanda renews efforts to end malaria infections  • Namibian gov't to gauge service delivery through public survey  • Zambian president pardons journalist who defamed predecessor  • Poland appreciates Belt and Road development opportunities: officials  • China pledges continued support for Kenya's health care  • Feature: How Poland's Lodz benefits from China-Poland rail cargo connection  
You are here: 　 Home

UN scales up humanitarian needs for displaced in South Sudan's town

Xinhua, April 25, 2017 Adjust font size:

The UN migration agency said on Tuesday that it is responding to an influx of over 22,000 displaced persons in and around South Sudan's second largest town of Wau town since the upsurge of violence on April 10.

Together with its partners, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the influx is stretching existing humanitarian resources, and space to shelter displaced families is running out.

"Needs in the area have remained high since clashes in mid-2016 displaced more than 42,000 people," IOM said in a statement released in Juba.

Three aid workers involved in the delivery of vital food aid were killed in Wau on April 10 sparking violence which has now displaced thousands of people in Wau.

The deaths bring the number of aid workers killed in South Sudan to 82 with 14 aid workers having already been killed in 2017, compared to 24 in all of 2016.

According to IOM, a population count on April 21 identified over 16,400 new internally displaced persons (IDPs) sheltering at the UN protection of civilians (PoC) site adjacent to the UN Mission's South Sudan base, bringing the site's total population to over 41,700 people. New arrivals are living in very crowded conditions in service areas, along roads and near drainage and sanitation facilities.

Over the weekend, IOM constructed emergency shelters in a contingency area to relocate families living in the most vulnerable areas.

Additional water points and emergency shelters will be constructed in an area previously designated for food distributions, where most new arrivals have settled and built makeshift shelters.

"Amid increased levels of need, relief agencies continue to provide safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health care and psychosocial support across the six displacement sites in Wau town," IOM said.

Of the more than 7.5 million people in South Sudan in need of humanitarian assistance, more than 4.9 million of them face severe food insecurity due to displacement, conflict and economic decline.

Since the crisis erupted in December 2013, 3.4 million people have been displaced from their homes, including an estimated 1.9 million IDPs across the country. Endit