The European Commission has announced a €5.5 million contribution to UNICEF to help support its operations in South Sudan.
The donation announced on Monday, comes against an alarming background of growing humanitarian needs in South Sudan.
An upsurge in the violence that started in December 2013, has forced tens of thousands more people to flee their homes, many of them seeking shelter in United Nations ‘Protection of Civilians’ (PoC) sites. Many others remain stuck in remote swamps and on islands with little or no access to food, safe water and medicines.
The EU funding will cover interventions in the areas of nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene and child Protection.
“This generous contribution from the European Commission comes at a desperate time, with more than three quarters of a million people cut off from humanitarian assistance in the areas of the country most affected by fighting,” said Jonathan Veitch, UNICEF Representative in South Sudan.
Veitch said some four million people are unable to meet their food needs, while many of the children suffering from severe acute malnutrition can no longer be treated because fighting in the last months has closed or interrupted at least half of the nutrition services upon which their survival depends.
Why the donation matters
Jean-Louis De Brouwer, Operations Director in the Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department of the European Commission – ECHO observed that the humanitarian situation is going from bad to worse, as the conflict drags on at the expense of civilians.
“With this new humanitarian funding, we are giving UNICEF the means to respond to the many emergencies in South Sudan and to bring down malnutrition and disease rates among children trying to hold onto life. But humanitarian assistance won’t solve the crisis, the only way is a political solution.”
According to a press statement, UNICEF and partners will treat more than 140,000 severely acute malnourished children under five years old. 600,000 people will also be provided with clean water and more than half a million children affected by the conflict will receive psycho social support.
Since 1992 the European Commission has partnered with UNICEF to reach emergency-affected populations with much needed aid. This latest contribution brings to €15 million the amount which the European Commission has contributed to UNICEF in South Sudan in 2015.
“UNICEF South Sudan continues to benefit from its long and effective relationship with the European Commission and this latest contribution will go a long way to ensuring that, together in partnership, we are able to reach the most vulnerable children who are affected by this terrible crisis,”Veitch said