The NGO Oxfam Intermón has warned that the wave of displacement due to violence in the South Sudanese region of Pibor, in the east of the country, has turned humanitarian aid into a race against time.
«Continued displacement caused by the recent violence in the Pibor administrative area is likely to eliminate hopes of ever reducing levels of food insecurity,» the NGO warned.
According to a recent assessment by humanitarian agencies, at least 17,000 people are sheltering in schools and other facilities within Pibor town. The number will increase in the near future, they fear, as the fighting has also affected communities in Lokuangole.
South Sudan has a unity government that got off the ground following the materialization of the 2018 peace deal between President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar, which resulted in the latter returning to the post of first vice president of the African country.
Despite the decrease in violence due to the political conflict, the country has recorded an increase in inter-communal clashes, mainly motivated by cattle rustling and disputes between pastoralists and farmers in the most fertile areas of the country, especially due to the increase in desertification and the displacement of populations.
Oxfam Intermón recalls that «some areas of Greater Pibor have already been in a state of desperate food insecurity for a long time», denounces its country director, Manenji Mangundu.
Despite the difficulties, the NGO has managed to distribute «quick-impact non-food items» to some 2,500 households, and is accumulating additional aid for the displaced.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
