Africa-Press – South-Sudan. South Sudan’s government says it has formed a committee to assess the general floods situation in the country. The move comes amidst a growing humanitarian crisis due to widespread flooding in the country.
According to the United Nations, some 426,000 people, including 185,000 children, have been affected and displaced in South Sudan by heavy flooding that submerged homes and farms.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Information Minister Michael Makuei said: “As for the floods in general, the committee has already been formed, and this committee is studying and looking at how best this situation can be addressed. And that comes under the chairmanship of the minister of humanitarian affairs.”
The government says more than half of the country is affected by floods.
“More than half of the area in South Sudan is under water. Even the house of President Salva Kiir back home is underwater. But we are only talking about the flooding that has displaced soldiers at the training centre in Upper Nile because the number of the soldiers is huge and it is connected to the implementation of the peace agreement,” Makuei explained.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) last month warned of limited supplies and a funding shortfall, saying that it had only received 54 percent of the $1.7 billion required to pay for programmes in the country.
Funding shortages have also forced the UN World Food Programme to suspend food aid to over 100,000 displaced people in South Sudan, the agency said earlier this month, warning of further reductions unless it received more cash.
Four out of five of South Sudan’s 11 million people live in “absolute poverty”, according to the World Bank in 2018, while more than 60 percent of its population suffers from severe hunger from the combined effects of conflict, drought and floods.
