While fierce conflict and severe food scarcity threaten families in South Sudan, hundreds of displaced people are arriving every day at one overcrowded UN camp in Bentiu, Unity State in search of help. This UN Protection of Civilian camp is now hosting more than 120,000 people—far beyond the site’s intended capacity. Essential services to families like health, nutrition, water, and sanitation are stretched to the breaking point. Medair is working around the clock to save lives.
Making matters worse, the camp is now seeing an alarming spike in measles, Hepatitis E, and malaria. Medair is one of several aid agencies working in the camp to save lives and restore people to health. “The people in the camp in Bentiu live in dire conditions and are exposed to life-threatening diseases,” says Lois Fergusson, Medical Manager of Medair’s Emergency Response Team. “They are amongst the most vulnerable people in South Sudan, having been through terrible hardships. They need urgent assistance and we’re grateful we can work with other organisations and offer life-saving services.”
Above all, the camp needs more primary health care services, but there is very little space available to set up clinics. Instead, Medair’s teams of community workers fight the disease outbreaks by going from shelter to shelter, treating children in their homes for the most common health problems and referring them as needed for malnutrition or suspected Hepatitis.
“In almost every household, we find sick people,” says Alicia Morcombe, Medair Health Manager. “It’s so rewarding to see how much difference we can make by providing emergency health care. We can treat people who would not have made it otherwise.”
Before arriving at the camp, many of the people had walked for weeks. They arrived exhausted, dehydrated, and hungry, all of which made them highly susceptible to diseases. Now stranded in the displacement camp in Bentiu, they are waiting for lasting peace, and an opportunity to go back to their home villages and restore their lives.
Information for the press
· Since the violence erupted in December 2013, the UN estimates that more than 2.2 million people have fled their homes, including 1.6 million who remain displaced within the country.
· Of these 1.6 million displaced people, almost 200,000 people have sought shelter in United Nations Protection of Civilians (PoCs) sites.
· The majority of the people who were forced from their homes, 1.4 million, are living outside the PoCs, in swampy areas or different host communities.
Please contact:
Nathalie Fauveau, Press Relations Officer (English, German and French), nathalie.fauveau@medair.org, +41 (0)78 635 30 95.
Diana Gorter, Communications Officer (Dutch, English) in South Sudan, comms-sds@medair.org, +211 (0)927 475 150.
Medair’s South Sudan programme is supported by the EC Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection, the United States Agency for International Development, Common Humanitarian Fund, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Swiss Solidarity, the Belgian Government and private donors.
For more information on Medair’s South Sudan programme, click here or follow us on Twitter: @Medair_SDS
This release was produced with resources gathered by Medair field and headquarters staff. The views expressed herein are those solely of Medair and should not be taken, in any way, to reflect the official opinion of any other organisation.