Agencies fear that constant rain will cause flooding and spread disease.
Seasonal rains due in Sudan and South Sudan will exacerbate already dire conditions in refugee camps, restrict travel and access, and heighten the risk of disease, a group of leading humanitarian agencies warned.
The rains, which in some places have already started, will make many roads impassable, trapping people in unstable areas and deepening the current hunger crisis.
Sustained, broad access for aid provision, freedom of movement for civilians, and the opportunity to plant this year’s crops are vital to save lives and will only be fully possible with a cessation of hostilities within and between the two countries.
Jon Cunliffe, South Sudan Country Director for Save the Children: “A toxic combination of conflict, rising food and fuel prices, and severe cash shortages is having a devastating effect on the civilian population in both countries. With the rains on the way the situation could not be more critical. We urgently need the fighting to stop so that we can get access and children can be protected from violence, deprivation, displacement and recruitment.”
In Sudan’s South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, reports suggest continued instability means that some families have not yet planted their seeds, which could potentially lead to severe food shortages later in the year. The insecurity also means children are not going to school. Access to all areas is needed urgently before the rains make getting assistance to communities even harder.
Ibrahim Kallo, emergency field coordinator for the International Rescue Committee in Yida said: “Those arriving in the camp in recent weeks are visibly exhausted and malnourished after walking for four or five days with little food or water, and some children show signs of severe malnutrition.”
In Jamam Camp in South Sudan’s Upper Nile agencies are struggling to provide 37,000 refugees with even as little as five litres of water per person per day, far less than emergency standards. Despite hydrological surveys and many attempts to drill new boreholes no sustainable new water sources have been found and thousands of refugees will need to be moved. The rains will make things harder – potentially causing flooding and spreading disease.
