The scale and severity of acute food insecurity continue to rise at the July/August peak of the lean season in South Sudan.

Heavy rains in Sudan have intensified over the past week, causing flooding, destruction of infrastructure, houses and livelihoods, and leading to displacement in multiple locations across the country. Khartoum, Blue Nile and River Nile are amongst the most affected states.

At least 100 million people were forced to flee their homes during the last 10 years, seeking refuge either within or outside the borders of their country. Forced displacement and statelessness remained high on the international agenda in recent years and continued to generate dramatic headlines in every part of the world.

The Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, Alain Noudéhou, today launched an urgent funding appeal to support the COVID-19 response and respond to new humanitarian needs. The COVID-19 Addendum to the 2020 Humanitarian Response Plan requests US$390 million and brings the overall humanitarian appeal for the year to $1.9 billion. The National COVID-19 Response Plan, which request $150 million, is included in this Addendum. Humanitarian organizations aim to assist 7.4 million people by the end of the year, up from the 5.6 million planned before the outbreak.

This report fills a gap-in-knowledge and offers a comprehensive, accessible framework to demonstrate how gender, climate and security are inextricably linked.

The data and the analyses in this report were prepared before the global crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic and do not account for its impact on vulnerable people in food-crisis situations.

At the beginning of April, the 2020 edition of the Global Report on Food Crises was issued, presenting a stark warning for the future. In 2019 – prior to the COVID-19 pandemic – 135 million people experienced “crisis” and worse levels of acute food insecurity. A further 183 million were on the edge in “stressed” food security conditions.

Today, nearly 55 million people in the Arab States, 13.2 percent of the population, are hungry and the situation is particularly worrying in countries affected by conflicts and violence: Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, and Yemen.

The 2020 edition of The Global Report on Food Crises describes the scale of acute hunger in the world. It provides an analysis of the drivers that are contributing to food crises across the globe, and examines how the COVID-19 pandemic might contribute to their perpetuation or deterioration.

South Sudan’s mining sector has seen rapid development in recent years, and preliminary reports suggest that the industry could become an engine for major economic growth.

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