Floods threaten to derail South Sudan’s recovery

By Obi Anyadike, Senior Editor 

Severe flooding in South Sudan has affected close to a million people, threatening to reverse some of the humanitarian gains made during a year-long ceasefire in the country’s civil war, aid workers and UN officials say.

[…]

The UN’s emergency aid coordination body, OCHA, said floods have hit a total of 32 counties in Jonglei, Upper Nile, Warrap, Eastern Equatoria, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Unity, and Lakes – areas where more than three million people were already in need of assistance even before the rains.

[…]

“We are seeing more malaria cases, watery diarrhoea cases, and respiratory tract infections as a result of the flooding,” said Edi Atte, MSF’s emergency coordinator. “The health condition of the people is deteriorating because they are drinking from open water sources.”

[…]

Members of the UN Security Council, on a visit to South Sudan earlier this month, urged the country’s leaders to settle the outstanding issues over the implementation of the peace agreement – which has stalled on disagreements over new states, their boundaries, and the reunification of the security forces.

[…]