South Sudan Emergency
Since December 2013, brutal conflict in South Sudan has claimed thousands of lives and driven well over a million of people from their homes.
While many remain displaced inside the country, hundreds of thousands have fled to neighbouring countries in a desperate bid to reach safety.
The situation in South Sudan and neighbouring countries has quickly escalated into a full-blown humanitarian emergency. Although we are doing all we can to provide relief and life-saving shelter with limited resources, displacement in the region is expected to rise until a political solution is found.
"I need blankets. It is cold at night and I don't want my children to get sick."
Rebecca Barnaba, 23, mother at Doro camp
The majority of the refugees are women and children, many of whom flee across the border alone. Often, they arrive weak and malnourished. When the rainy season comes, their needs are compounded by flooding, food shortages and disease.
"If we are not able to fly in what is needed during the rainy season, people will die. It is as simple as that."
Marie-Hélène Verney, UNHCR
Ethiopia currently hosts the largest number of South Sudanese refugees, with recent arrivals escaping to neighbouring Jonglei and Upper Nile states. Many of them fear imminent attack or struggle with food insecurity. To accommodate them, UNHCR and the Ethiopian authorities opened three new camps during 2014, two of which are already full.
As violence in South Sudan continues to escalate, those who fled need protection, shelter, medical care and other assistance. Through an inter-agency regional refugee response plan, we have appealed for USD 567 million to enable our teams and partners to respond to these needs, restoring hope to those who have been uprooted.
Conflict has left millions in need of assistance
