International Solidarity Urgently Needed

This time not to receive a prize but to warn against the imminent calamity that awaits one of the youngest African States, South Sudan if nothing is done to curb famine. The causes of these calamity ranges from conflict, climate shocks, COVID-19 and recently the war in Ukraine. According to statistics made public over the weekend, more than 70% of the country’s population are at risk of being starved by hunger. This involves women, men and children that fled their homes in search of safety. With harvests still months away and famine already declared in parts of the country, it is feared that the new humanitarian risk which is hunger, will spread across the rest of the country, unless the international community puts hands together to salvage the precarious situation.
The impact of the climate crisis and ongoing conflict have led to large-scale displacement, livelihoods losses, the destruction of arable land and crops as well as rising food prices, threatening the survival of communities living in some of the most isolated areas in the South Sudanese states of Jonglei, Lakes, Unity and Warrap. “The extent and depth of this crisis is unsettling. We’re seeing people across the country have exhausted all their available options to make ends meet and now they are left with nothing,” said Adeyinka Badejo, Deputy Country Directo...