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Hunger in South Sudan

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Far away from the flashpoints of Syria, Iraq and Ukraine, there is an altogether different world that is away from the glare of media spotlight.

Published: Mon 28 Jul 2014, 9:46 PM

Updated: Fri 3 Apr 2015, 9:34 PM

This is the Dark Continent of the 21st century where diseases like the Ebola, hunger and famine dwarf the people for all times to come. The most pressing, however, among them is the human catastrophe that is in the making. According to reports, there are at least four million hungry mouths to feed in South Sudan alone, and the newly liberated African country is at the verge of collapse.

With more than half of its population of 12 million displaced and in a state of inertia either on the frontiers or in makeshift camps everywhere, it is experiencing what is being dubbed as the worst food crisis in human history. The situation is one of Rwanda and Congo of yesteryears where thousands were slaughtered and millions starved to death under adverse circumstances. Here in the case of South Sudan it is getting worst as an undeclared civil war is under way and necessary political mechanism has failed to keep the country united. What started off as a political skirmish between two factions of society as deputy president Riek Machar differed with his boss, Salva Kiir, is now a full-blown upheaval. The international community has once again failed to deliver and a host of agreements and understandings reached between them under the African Union and the United Nations aegis in Ethiopia had fallen flat on surface.

The SOS at this point of time is that as militant groups rule the roost, people are starving and dying at the hands of hunger and disease. Though the UN has called for urgent remedial measures, there are hardly any listeners. The $618 million aid pledges by the world community is nowhere in sight, and it is feared that at least 50,000 children might die by the end of the year — if nothing is done to tame the catastrophic food insecurity.

The statistics for Juba are horrible: more than a million on the move, thousands killed in gun fight, the writ of the government nowhere in sight, thugs controlling its international trade and last but not the least the country’s food basket incapable to feed its hungry mouths. The problems are so severe that they can’t be left for another day. They have to be addressed on war-footing, in order to avoid mass extermination of people. What needs to be underscored is the fact that Juba’s fallout will not be restricted to its territory but also have an impact across the impoverished continent where militants, thugs and mercenaries are waiting in the wings to seize power. It is a serious security threat, which is not limited to Africa. As Gaza, Mosul and eastern Ukraine massacres went unheeded, there is little hope that Juba will figure on the map of world conscience.



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