Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The ongoing violence along the river in Upper Nile State of South Sudan blocked humanitarian aid from reaching 60,000 malnourished people, the U.N. agencies warned on Thursday.
The United Nations Children’s Agency (UNICEF) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said the majority of malnourished children in Upper Nile State are at risk of plunging deeper into malnutrition as treatment supplies run critically low and resupply efforts are hampered due to aid cuts.
Mary-Ellen McGroarty, WFP Representative in South Sudan, warned that if they don’t get nutrition supplies on time, the situation would likely worsen.
“Children are already the first to suffer during emergencies; if we can’t get nutrition supplies through, we are likely to see escalating malnutrition in areas already at breaking point,” McGroarty said in a statement issued on Thursday.
“This is already one of the most food-insecure regions in South Sudan with extremely high rates of malnutrition; in these situations, every day makes a difference for a malnourished child in need of life-saving treatment.”
McGroarty said due to security concerns and the high value of nutrition supplies, WFP and UNICEF are unable to preposition stock in insecure areas.
She said doing so would leave health facilities and warehouses increasingly vulnerable to looting.
McGroarty said already, in Upper Nile, almost 2,000 cartons of life-saving nutrition supplies, around 26 metric tons, have been looted since the onset of the conflict, robbing around 1,900 children of their only chance of treatment and recovery.
The Upper Nile state has some of the highest rates of malnutrition in South Sudan, with over 300,000 children affected by moderate or severe malnutrition in the past year, according to UN agencies.
For his part, Obia Achieng, UNICEF’s Deputy Representative for South Sudan, warns that without an urgent, safe resumption of deliveries, children across Upper Nile will face the devastating consequences of interrupted treatment.
“We have reluctantly taken the unprecedented step of holding back supplies for fear that they will not reach the children that so desperately need them, due to the ongoing fighting, looting, and disruption of the river route,” Achieng said.
Achieng stated that without urgent access and resupply of vital assistance, WFP and UNICEF expect to exhaust nutrition supplies to treat moderate and severe cases of malnutrition by the end of May.
“If this continues, we are in danger of simply running out of supplies in counties across the state by the end of May 2025, with potentially catastrophic results for the youngest, most vulnerable children.”
In mid-April, barges carrying 1,000 metric tons of food and nutrition supplies bound for Upper Nile State were forced to return due to insecurity.
Almost 3,000 additional metric tons are on standby in Bor—a humanitarian cargo hub along the Nile River—ready for delivery as soon as conditions allow.
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