U.N. faces humanitarian disaster in South Sudan

http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-south-sudan-humanitarian-disaster-un-20140204,0,4017031.story



Toby Lanzer, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, speaks at a news conference in Juba, the capital.

U.N. faces humanitarian disaster in South Sudan
By Robyn Dixon
February 4, 2014, 11:07 a.m.

JUBA, South Sudan -- Toddlers tottering in the dust, elderly men sitting in the shade to escape the sapping heat, clustering flies, the drifting smoke of cooking fires and the sour smell of too many people crowded into a small space. If things are bad now at the displaced-persons camp near the main U.N. peacekeeping base in Juba, South Sudan, they’ll soon be much worse.

The rains are coming within months. They’ll bring malaria, mud, perhaps cholera, and make life in these camps even more miserable.

Toby Lanzer, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, launched an appeal Tuesday in the capital, Juba, for $1.27 billion by June. He catalogued the need: 3 million people facing acute or severe hunger after ethnic fighting caused 865,000 to flee their homes, while about 60% of the population faces the risk of hunger.

But when Lanzer hits the phones and flies in to talk to leaders in donor capitals, knocking on doors, pleading for funds, he will face some tough competition. The South Sudan appeal comes a day after the U.N. launched a $2-billion campaign for the famine-threatened Sahel region, where 2.5 million people need emergency lifesaving food assistance.


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http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-south-sudan-aid-20140205,0,6952456.story



Ethnic fighting has displaced 865,000 people and 3 million face severe hunger, a U.N. official says. The appeal follows those for the Sahel region and Syria.

United Nations appeals for $1.27 billion in aid for South Sudan
By Robyn Dixon
February 4, 2014, 4:08 p.m.

JUBA, South Sudan — Toddlers tottering in the dust, elderly men sitting in the shade to escape the sapping heat, clustering flies, the drifting smoke of cooking fires, and the sour smell of far too many people crowded into a small space.

If things are bad now at the displaced persons camp near the main U.N. peacekeeping base in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, they'll soon be much worse.

The rains are coming. By April or May they'll bring malaria, mud, perhaps cholera, and make life in these camps even more miserable.

Toby Lanzer, the United Nations' humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, launched an appeal Tuesday in Juba for $1.27 billion by June. Three million people face severe hunger, after ethnic fighting caused 865,000 to flee their homes, while about 60% of the population, or 7 million people, face some threat of hunger.