Training session in Unity State for volunteers who will distribute food to the famine zone.
In response to this crisis, the Canadian government has announced it has created a Famine Relief Fund. For every $1 donated to MCC for famine relief, $1 will go into the government’s fund for later distribution. Donations made between March 17-June 30 are eligible to be matched.
It’s difficult to plan for tomorrow when you are running for your life today.
MCC’s Vurayayi Pugeni says that’s the situation faced by many people in South Sudan, where people are fleeing from conflict. In Unity State, where the United Nations has declared a famine, the situation is especially critical.
“People cannot work in their fields, they cannot harvest their produce, they cannot think about tomorrow because they are always on the run,” says Pugeni, MCC’s humanitarian relief coordinator.
He says some people leave so quickly, or often, that crops are left rotting in the fields. Drought has made the situation worse. The traditional coping strategies of selling livestock for income, borrowing money from family members or sharing food are no longer viable because all available resources are exhausted.
The UN reserves the designation of famine for dire situations, using criteria on food shortages, malnutrition and death. Pugeni says conditions in Unity State surpass those levels.
“There is a high number of people who are going to bed hungry. There’s a high number of people who are malnourished,” he says. “And mortality, the number of people dying, is higher than the UN threshold.”
While food insecurity is acute in Unity State, it’s estimated that more than 40 per cent of South Sudan’s population urgently needs food, nutritional and agricultural assistance. More than a million children under five years are malnourished.
Three million people are displaced from their homes; 1.3 million have left South Sudan altogether, seeking refuge in neigbouring countries.
In 2014, Nyadnol Tut fled the conflict with her young daughter, while pregnant with her second child. Her husband stayed in South Sudan. It took Tut six months to reach the Tierkidi refugee camp in Ethiopia.
“On top of constantly worrying about my husband dying, my main problem here is to feed and clothe my children properly,” she says.
Tut receives MCC relief supplies, including canned meat. The distribution at camps in the Gambella region of Ethiopia is done through MCC’s partner, International Medical Corps.
In South Sudan, MCC has completed an emergency distribution of food in the famine zone. Two hundred and forty-five households in Unity State received a two month supply of sorghum (grain), beans, cooking oil and salt. The distribution was done through MCC’s local partner, Episcopal Church of Sudan-Sudanese Development Relief Agency. The people who distributed the food are familiar with the needs of the community.
“These are local people, South Sudanese helping each other. Hopefully they will attract less criticism from the people doing the fighting,” Pugeni says.
MCC’s emergency response focuses on the most vulnerable; women, children, and destitute households that have run out of other food options. In addition, MCC is using funds from our Canadian Foodgrains Bank account to support a World Relief Canada project—centres will be set up to treat malnutrition in Unity Sate.
Pugeni says ultimately only an end to the conflict will restore food security and a stable economy in South Sudan. In the meantime, people need help as they try to survive.
“These are not the people in the bush holding a gun or fighting” Pugeni says. “These are civilians who are supposed to be protected during a war, but they are in fact the most affected.”
MCC welcomes your support for our relief work in South Sudan.