In its continued efforts to support democratic system building and peacekeeping in Africa, the United States on Tuesday pledged nearly $300 million in additional funding in humanitarian assistance to help those South Sudanese who have been displaced and placed at risk by the country’s conflict that began last December, bringing the total U.S. humanitarian assistance to South Sudan in fiscal year 2014 to more than $434 million.
The new funds will go toward providing immediate food needs and to help support those displaced inside the country as well as those who have fled to neighboring countries, especially ramping up the food distribution and specialty nutrition supplements for children suffering from malnutrition due to the humanitarian crisis that spurred up as a result of the country civil war conflict.
The U.S. is the leading single donor of humanitarian assistance to the country. The U.S made the announcement in Oslo, Norway at the Humanitarian Pledging Conference for South Sudan, joining more than 40 other countries that have pledged support to South Sudan.
This new assistance will also continue to support programs that address chronic food insecurity by providing seeds, tools and agricultural training to help South Sudanese farmers restart their livelihoods. With this announcement, a U.S said it will continue to stand with the people of South Sudan and work to bring an end to the conflict that has taken a devastating toll on the country and accelerated the humanitarian crisis.
However, it warned, the aid can only be effective if the Government of South Sudan, opposition forces, and all other conflict parties stop fighting and remove obstacles to the delivery of life-saving assistance. The U.S. emphasizes that it is crucial that both sides implement their May 9 agreement to end the violence and allow immediate, full and unconditional access for the United Nations and humanitarian organizations to reach those in need.
During a briefing to the press on Tuesday Department of State spokesperson Jen Psaki said though obstacles do remain and that the fighting or obstruction by armed groups continue to present challenges, the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and others are working hard on pushing for both sides to abide by the ceasefire and their agreement of just a couple weeks ago.
“Clearly, ongoing dialogue, efforts to come to an agreement about the path forward – whether that is access to humanitarian assistance or it is the creation of a transitional governing body – we do think those are positive. But you have to abide by those and implement them. And so that’s what we’re working on right now as well as efforts with the Security Council to renew and revise the mandate for UNMISS so it prioritizes three core activities, which is the protection of civilians, humanitarian rights monitoring investigations, and facilitating the delivery of humanitarian assistance,” said Psaki.
According to recent data, around 1.3 million people have been displaced by the fighting, with million at risk of famine in the coming months. Lack of clean water and unhygienic environment could promote the spread of diseases among those displaced as well as pose future humanitarian health crisis for the country and its neighboring countries.
Working with the United Nations and other partners to meet these immediate humanitarian needs, the new U.S. assistance will provide safe drinking water, latrines and training on good hygiene practices. It will also bolster emergency health services, provide medical and psychosocial support for survivors of gender-based violence and fund emergency education for displaced children.
The funding will also support programs in neighboring countries that are witnessing an influx of refugees with construction of camps, health and nutrition programs, as well as education and reproductive health activities.
