The International Committee of the Red Cross or ICRC called for peace and stability as more than half of South Sudan’s population is still depending on food aid for their survival.
Speaking to CRN on telephone interview, Aida Khamis said ICRC has provided food, seeds and farming tools to over one million South Sudanese in Jonglei, Equatoria and Upper Nile regions.
She added that ICRC provides the items to people displaced by the conflict and natural disaster like floods and other circumstances.
‘We provided to Jonglei, Warap, Awei, Equatoria, etc,. We have been distributing this food to people who have been displaced from there homes. However, there are some people who have been displaced because of floods, could be another reason that could have happened in their area and leave their location to another location and they are very desperate. So we provide to those people on road and also by air. It all depends on the needs and the kind of people we reach, said Khamis.
‘The hunger crisis in South Sudan is man-made’, said Ottavio Sardu in a press release, who manages ICRC’s livelihood and food security programs in South Sudan.
‘Years of conflict and violence have uprooted millions from their homes and livelihoods. People need resources and stability to plant, rebuild and start a new life’, he added.
Sardu said ICRC has provided seeds and tools to more than 70,000 families this year.
He added that many of the families that received the items have planted and hope they will have food to harvest later in the year.
Since the beginning of 2019, the ICRC reached 67 locations across the country with projects that support long-term food production in the country, including cattle vaccination against major diseases to protect the animals’ health and support families’ livelihoods.