UN Agency urges continued humanitarian support in South Sudan

The U.N. Refugee Agency is calling on the international community to continue providing humanitarian assistance in South Sudan.

 Arafat Jamal, the UNHCR representative in South Sudan made this call as a result of a global funding cut.

Jamal called on the international community to continue availing aid to help humanitarian communities respond to humanitarian needs in the country.

“We really appeal very strongly to the international community not to give up on South Sudan and if you don’t intervene, things will get worse and if you do intervene give us breathing space and a chance for others,” Jamal told reporters in an interview on Monday upon his arrival to Juba from Upper Nile.

South Sudan has been marked by brutal conflict, inter-communal violence and cattle raiding, floods.

The U.N. refugee agency said 1.6 million people are internally displaced within South Sudan and another 2.2 million are refugees in neighboring countries.

Jamal expressed concern over the global fund cut, saying it will affect humanitarian response.

 “I am very worried about this, I won’t hide it, the cut is deep and the cut is likely to last for a while,” he said.

He said the African youngest shows promising signs of creating a better future for its population.

“While we are fighting emergencies in the north, we are building hope in other places. I believe the picture in South Sudan has to be blamed.”

“We have to be able to show that is not all emergency and crisis, there is also some part of the country that is improving,” he said.