Renewed fighting in Jonglei State between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and troops aligned with suspended Vice President Riek Machar has displaced around 280,000 people since December, according to the United Nations.
South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 but quickly descended into civil war between Kiir and Machar, former allies whose rivalry split the country along political and ethnic lines.
Humanitarian officials say about 825,000 people across Jonglei State, Unity State, and Eastern Equatoria State face the risk of acute malnutrition as food shortages and disrupted services worsen conditions.
In the state capital Bor, doctors at the town’s hospital are struggling to treat a surge of displaced families while supplies rapidly run out. Acting hospital director David Tor said the facility is barely coping with the influx of patients.
‘May lose patients’
“Because of the increase in the number of people who need services, we have run out of almost everything. At a certain point, we may lose patients.” Tor tells AFP.
Fangak County’s only health facility, serving more than 100,000 people and run by the humanitarian group Médecins Sans Frontières, was destroyed in May when helicopter gunships and drones attacked the compound, destroying its pharmacy and medical supplies.
Local officials say aid is on the way, though hospitals remain under pressure. Jonglei’s information minister Nyamar Lony Ngundeng said the hospital in Bor would receive additional supplies. “I would say it’s enough until the hospital or the ministry of health says otherwise,” she said.
A 2018 power-sharing agreement restored a fragile peace and brought Machar back into government as deputy to Kiir, but tensions have steadily escalated over the past year.
Children most impacted
Aid agencies warn the latest violence is creating another generation of children with little access to education or stability.
The World Bank estimates that about 70 percent of children in South Sudan are not attending school, while UNICEF says more than half of those displaced by the recent clashes are children, many fleeing their homes for the second or third time.
South Sudan remains heavily dependent on foreign aid, with international donors covering between 80 and 90 percent of the country’s healthcare needs.
The country was ranked the most corrupt in the world by watchdog Transparency International, while the United Nations says billions of dollars in oil revenues have been siphoned off by elites, limiting funds for public services.
