The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs starts today a three-day visit to South Sudan to discuss the situation of almost 800,000 people in urgent need of aid.
Valerie Amos will pay a field visit to Jonglei State, the scene of a surge in inter-communal violence, and meet representatives from the government, donors and aid agencies in Juba.In 2011 alone, 350,000 people were displaced by rebel fighting and inter-communal clashes and some 80,000 Sudanese have taken refuge in Unity and Upper Nile states after war broke out in Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan states.
South Sudan also received more than 360,000 returnees.
The UN says food security is expected to get worse this year and the current political deadlock between South Sudan and Sudan over oil risks plunging into a dangerous decline.