South Sudan: Thousands at-risk of hunger and disease in Equatoria States
During clashes in May 2020, armed men burnt and destroyed houses in this village in Central Equatoria. Communities fled into the bush for safety. They lost all their belongings, livelihoods and property. Before this attack, this village was a commercial centre south of the capital.
“We fear to come back to our village, because it is where all the clashes happened. Now we are hiding in the bush so that we don’t find ourselves stuck in the middle of the fighting. Armed men burned everything including our houses. They even took our chickens, our goats. It is so hard to survive in the bush. We eat wild fruits and roots.” John fled his village in Central Equatoria during the recent clashes to find safety in the bush.
Betty recently had to flee her remote village in Central Equatoria due to the conflict. “We fled into the bush to hide, but we still live in fear. As a result, we run deeper into the bush to hide. We have to drink water from the stream which is dirty. We don’t have access to medical facilities and we get sick from malaria and other diseases. Kids have signs of swellings on their bodies – they are malnourished.”
The ICRC and South Sudan Red Cross have assisted 120,000 people affected by the conflict in South Sudan’s Central, Eastern and Western Equatoria states so far in 2020. Many are now living in isolated and hard to reach areas. The most vulnerable families received food and essentials items. Families in communities where they could safely restart their livelihoods and rebuild their lives also received seeds, farming tools and fishing kits.
