South Sudan is urgently seeking $358 million in funding to address the growing humanitarian crisis caused by an influx of people displaced due to deadly clashes in neighboring Sudan. The conflict in Sudan, which involves clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has resulted in the displacement of approximately 300,000 individuals into South Sudan. Officials warn that this number could rise to half a million, placing a tremendous strain on the country’s already dire humanitarian situation.
Albino Akol Atak, South Sudan’s Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, explained that the government and humanitarian organizations initially estimated the cost of responding to the crisis at $96 million for the first three months. However, a recent reassessment has revealed that a total of $358 million will be required to adequately address the ongoing crisis by the end of the year.
The sudden influx of displaced individuals from Sudan compounds the existing humanitarian catastrophe in South Sudan. Even before this crisis, 9.4 million people in the country were already in need of humanitarian assistance. This figure includes 300,000 returnees who had voluntarily come back to South Sudan from neighboring countries like Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia, attracted by the promise of relative peace in their home country.
South Sudan’s appeal for substantial funding underscores the urgency of the situation and the pressing need to provide aid and support to those affected by the ongoing clashes in Sudan.
