Africa-Press – South-Sudan. On Thursday, the UN and partners launched a $1.7 billion Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for South Sudan, to meet the needs of some 6.8 million vulnerable people this year.
Sara Beysolow Nyanti, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan, said the cumulative and compounding effects of years of climate-related events such as flooding and drought, conflict and subnational violence have destroyed people’s homes and livelihoods, robbing them of the future they deserve.
She urged the government, development partners, donors, and humanitarian organisations to match their solidarity with unwavering support.
They said an estimated 8.9 million people in South Sudan are estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance this year.
The humanitarians further said about 8.3 million people, including refugees, are expected to face severe food insecurity by the peak of the lean season, which runs from May to July.
While the need for humanitarian aid has become endless in this country, we also need to evaluate how those funds have been making positive changes in the lives of the needy. Or is it making people more vulnerable?
This is not the first time that the UN’s humanitarian coordination in South Sudan has made such an appeal. You might have come across such a statement every year, and it always reads, “seven million people in South Sudan are facing food insecurity.”
At the same time last year, the U.N.’s Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, Alain Noudéhou, released an urgent appeal for $1.7 billion to help 6.6 million people facing food insecurity.
According to the United Nations’ humanitarian response plan for South Sudan for 2021, $1.7 billion is urgently needed to combat rising food insecurity and other threats.
It said 6.6 million people were in need of humanitarian aid.
This editorial piece does not intend to block any humanitarian support but rather calls on the UN humanitarian coordinator to focus on making a sustainable impact on the lives of ordinary people from the money they often get from donors. Let it not be a story we have to encounter every year.
There is a need to think outside the box and not just feed the local people because there is no guarantee that donors will continuously keep on donating money for aid to South Sudan. There is a Chinese proverb that says, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day.” But when you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.
UN agencies should focus on life-building projects that are more sustainable than focusing on what makes people vulnerable every year. Nevertheless, we are aware that some of the factors contributing to food insecurity in the country are beyond the UN’s responsibility because they are the primary responsibility of the government. But the issue of flooding as a result of the climate is a global concern that needs to be addressed by both partners, and this requires a long-term solution, not just food donation.
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