- Title: South Sudan no longer classified as in famine - U.N.-backed report
- Date: 21st June 2017
- Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (JUNE 21, 2017) (REUTERS) REGIONAL SPOKESPERSON AT UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND, JAMES ELDER, SITTING WITH REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND SPOKESPERSON, JAMES ELDER, SAYING: "So the recent nutrition data out of South Sudan shows that famine has eased in the state where it was declared in February, which is of course very good news and it's thanks to a very quick international response and some really tireless work on behalf of agencies like UNICEF and World Food Program. It should not be confused with an end to the crisis. Unfortunately what this latest data also shows is that six million people, it is more than 1 in 2 of every South Sudanese, is struggling to find food every single day."
- Embargoed: 5th July 2017 12:44
- Keywords: famine South Sudan food aid packages airdrop displacement camp in Kenya. WFP
- Location: NAIROBI, KENYA / LEER, KOCH AND UNKNOWN LOCATION, SOUTH SUDAN
- City: NAIROBI, KENYA / LEER, KOCH AND UNKNOWN LOCATION, SOUTH SUDAN
- Country: South Sudan
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA0026M81XL3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: South Sudan is no longer classified as being in famine, although 45,000 people in country's Jonglei and Unity states are expected to remain in famine-like conditions and the situation is still critical, a U.N.-backed food security report said on Wednesday (June 21).
Regional spokesperson at United Nations Children's Fund, James Elder, said it was good news that should not be confused with an end to the crisis. He also said the gains that had been made in that area that was famine declared in February could be very quickly reversed.
An estimated 6 million people, half the population, are expected to be severely food insecure this month and next, up from 5.5 million in May, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report which was based on a survey by a working group including government and U.N. officials.
The report said there was no longer famine in counties in the north of the country where it was declared in February. However, there were concerns about another region in the country's east, bordering Ethiopia, that was once called Jonglei state.
Two years after emerging as an independent state, the oil-rich country was plunged into conflict in December 2013 as rivalry between President Salva Kiir and his then-vice president, Riek Machar, exploded into violence.
The conflict has triggered Africa's worst refugee crisis, with more than 3 million people fleeing their homes. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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