Crisis in South Sudan

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that 1 million children in South Sudan are malnourished and that 50, 000 children could die from starvation in 2014.

The crisis engulfing the country began in December 2013 and has led to the displacement of more than 1.5 million people. Some have managed to find sanctuary in Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps. They are the fortunate ones who abandoned everything to live by trekking through the bush for days and weeks to survive. Mothers took their babies in their arms and forced their children to walk with them to avoid becoming casualties in the conflict. They survived by eating leaves, roots and flowers to reach safety. At the largest of these camps, Mingkaman, JAM, together with the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) is supplying food to 120,000 people sheltering in this safe but makeshift tent city.

The UN Security Council on July 25 described the situation as “catastrophic” and that “ food insecurity in South Sudan is now the worst in the world.” With farmers unable to harvest their land, crops left rotting and untended during the conflict, and little planted to benefit from the rainy season (May – November), food supplies have and will continue to dwindle. UN experts forecast that the situation will only deteriorate and lead to a famine not experienced on the African continent for decades that will place 3.9 million people at risk of starvation.

In 2014, JAM together with partners will store and distribute 38,000 tons of food destined to feed 694,000 people facing hunger and starvation in four states. JAM has been serving the communities of what is now known as South Sudan since 2001. We have the knowledge, trust and capacity to bring relief and humanitarian assistance to those affected by this horrifying crisis.

You can help make a difference today by pledging your support to JAM and together we can help save more lives.