UN warns over ‘massive famine’ in South Sudan

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From Press TV (source Link):- ‘The United Nations warns that large numbers of people, including refugees, will be affected by a “massive famine” in the near future in South Sudan.

“What unfolding there is a crisis, a humanitarian crisis of massive proportions; huge numbers of displaced persons and refugees… are going to be affected in the coming weeks and months by a massive famine,” said UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous on Thursday.

The critical situation has been greatly exacerbated by the country’s divided leadership that has failed to put an end to the political turmoil and alleviate the afflictions of the people, added Ladsous who was talking to the press on the sidelines of the 69th annual session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

South Sudan plunged into violence in December 2013, when fighting erupted between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and defectors led by his former deputy Riek Machar around the capital Juba.

The conflict soon turned into an all-out war between the army and defectors, with the violence taking on an ethnic dimension that pitted the president’s Dinka tribe against Machar’s Nuer ethnic group.

President Kiir and Machar signed a peace deal in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on August 25, pledging to put an end to the deadly civil war.

The clashes have left thousands of South Sudanese dead and forced around 1.5 million people to flee their homes in the world’s youngest nation.

South Sudan gained independence in July 2011 after its people overwhelmingly voted in a referendum for a split from the North.’

Niamh Harris
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