UN children agency or UNICEF says flood resulting from heavy rains affected an estimated 490,000 children in South Sudan.
In a statement to CRN, UNICEF says, the floods affected some nine hundred and eight thousand people in 32 counties since July.
It regrets that the current scope and scale of the flooding is severe especially in Jonglei, Upper Nile, Warrap and Northern Bahr El Ghazal.
In flood affected areas, several health centers are filled with water and are not able to provide services to the population.
Of those remaining open, some are inaccessible to children and their families due to impassable roads and destroyed bridges.
‘In South Sudan, water is normally associated with life, now, water it is putting children’s lives at risk, UNICEF is extremely concerned about children’s health in the affected areas with an increase in malaria and waterborne diseases such as diarrhea, two of the major child killers in South Sudan’, says Dr Mohamed Ag Ayoya, UNICEF Representative in South Sudan.
He adds that the floods have contaminated water sources and 70,000 families are temporarily displaced as their homes are under water.
Ag Ayoya says schools are closed due to large amount of water and classrooms are used as shelters for displaced.
He warns that the flooding is likely to increase the risk for acute malnutrition among children, due to the high levels of malaria, poor access to water, sanitation and hygiene.
42 nutrition centers have suspended their services due to the flood, which could further aggravate the already serious severe acute malnutrition where death is a plausible outcome if not treated timely.
UNICEF is appealing for 5.5 million US Dollars to respond to the most immediate needs of children in the flood affected areas.