HIGHLIGHTS
IOM conducts WASH assessment in Melut
IOM continues to support relocation to improved areas of Bentiu PoC site
Cholera outbreak declared by Government of South Sudan
Since December 2013, conflict and food insecurity in South Sudan have displaced more than 2.1 million people, including nearly 584,900 people who have fled to neighboring countries. Approximately 1.54 million people remain internally displaced, including many seeking shelter in remote rural areas and approximately 138,600 people sheltering in Protection of Civilian sites (PoCs) in UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) bases across the country.* Humanitarian needs remain immense. An estimated 4.6 million people will face severe food insecurity—Crisis and Emergency levels—during the May-to-July lean season, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) May 2015 Food Security and Nutrition Analysis.
The Government of South Sudan Ministry of Health declared a cholera outbreak on Tuesday 23 June, where at least 171 cases were confirmed. The Government state they have been setting up a treatment ward, increasing surveillance and case management and trying to verify confirmed cases.
IOM is providing lifesaving assistance to displaced and vulnerable populations. As part of expansion and improvement projects at the PoC sites in Bentiu, Unity State, and Malakal, Upper Nile State IDPs are relocated with support from Camp Management Danish Refugee Council (DRC) with IOM. In Bentiu, as of 26 June 4,306 households of 27,398 individuals have relocated to new Sector 1 and Sectors 3 and 4 in the new expansion area. The IOM commissioned water network is now fully functional.
Unpredictable security conditions continue to increase displacement and severely hamper humanitarian assistance activities, particularly in parts of Greater Upper Nile. Access to Melut County, Upper Nile, remains constrained since fighting in mid-May. A core technical WASH team returned to Melut on 18 June to assess the conditions of the IDPs, the WASH infrastructure and conduct repairs and provisions for the reestablishment of priority services. IOM provisionally suspended any operation outside the UNMISS base after shelling was heard. The team will be returning next week if security permits. Armed activity in the vicinity of the Malakal PoC continues to present a threat to IDPs and humanitarian workers in the PoC, which is sheltering nearly 30,400 IDPs. IOM and Camp Management partners continue to receive new arrivals at the Bentiu PoC site, temporarily registering nearly 3,932 new arrivals between 13-20 June alone. For in-depth analysis on site figures, visit http://www.iomsouthsudan.org/tracking/index.php
IOM continues to support the multiagency, multi-sector effort to airlift lifesaving relief supplies to IDPs in remote areas of southern Unity, where households have been completely cut-off from humanitarian assistance since fleeing fighting in May. IDPs are receiving portable survival kits containing shelter, food and WASH supplies.