The UN children agency or UNICEF reported that it has reached 4.5 million people in South Sudan with COVID-19 prevention and control messages since January.
The report said South Sudanese received the messages through inter-personal and mass communication methods since the beginning of the response.
It disclosed that 102,237 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition were treated in inpatient and outpatient therapeutic programs from January to June 2020.
UNICEF said since the beginning of the year, 260,358 people have access to safe drinking water through water trucking, construction of new and rehabilitation of non-functional water points
UNICEF continues to support risk communication and community engagement and the infection prevention and control interventions.
WFP says food insecurity in East Africa to increase by 73 % before 2020 end
World Food Program or WFP estimated that acutely food insecure people in East Africa could increase by 73 percent before the end of 2020.
WFP’s East Africa Regional Overview said most of the expected increase in food insecurity consists of populations living in urban areas and hit by the socio-economic impact of the pandemic.
It indicated that some 50 percent of the urban population live in informal settlements with the majority relying on informal day-to-day employment in the region.
WFP warned that meeting the food security needs of populations in urban slums across the region is a critical enabling factor to contribute to prospects for stability and security in this tumultuous period.
It said the triple threat of COVID-19, floods and locusts could have catastrophic consequences for South Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Djibouti and Eritrea.
WFP said the pandemic strikes at a time when the region is fighting an ongoing desert locust outbreak.
FAO projects that the locust outbreak alone could result in an additional 1.5 to 2.5 million people being severely food insecure due to a heightened risk to crops and pasture during the main harvest season from July to September.
The region is also experiencing a flooding season with above-average rainfall expected until September.
Recent flooding in the region has affected 2.25 million people and displaced more than 1.1 million people.