U.S. Pledges Additional Humanitarian Assistance to South Sudan

WASHINGTON, May 20, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- Media Note

Washington, DC

May 20, 2014

The United States today announced nearly $300 million in humanitarian assistance to help the people of South Sudan who have been placed at risk by the conflict that began last December. The additional funding was announced at the Humanitarian Pledging Conference for South Sudan in Oslo, Norway where we joined more than 40 other countries in pledging support to help those displaced inside the country, as well as those who have fled to neighboring countries.

We continue to stand with the people of South Sudan and are working to bring an end to the conflict that has taken a devastating toll on the country and accelerated the humanitarian crisis. We are working with the United Nations and our partners to meet the immediate humanitarian needs of the 1.3 million people displaced by the fighting and the million who are at risk of famine in the coming months.

With this new funding, the United States is responding to immediate food needs, ramping up the distribution of food items and specialty nutrition supplements for children suffering from malnutrition. This new assistance will also continue to support programs that address chronic food insecurity by providing seeds, tools and agricultural training to help South Sudanese farmers restart their livelihoods.

To prevent the spread of disease, the new U.S. assistance will provide safe drinking water, latrines and training on hygiene practices. It will also bolster emergency health services, provide medical and psychosocial support for survivors of gender-based violence and fund emergency education for displaced children. The funding will also support programs in neighboring countries that are witnessing an influx of refugees with construction of camps, health and nutrition programs, as well as education and reproductive health activities.

With this announcement, the total U.S. humanitarian assistance to South Sudan in fiscal year 2014 is more than $434 million. The United States is the leading single donor of humanitarian assistance to the country. However, this aid can only be effective if the Government of South Sudan, opposition forces, and all other conflict parties stop fighting and remove obstacles to the delivery of life-saving assistance. It is crucial that both sides implement their May 9 agreement to end the violence and allow immediate, full and unconditional access for the United Nations and humanitarian organizations to reach those in need.