UN warns of South Sudan famine

The United Nations says South Sudan is edging toward famine as fighting, displacement and aid shortfalls deepen across the country. (reliefweb.int) Tom Fletcher, the UN humanitarian chief, told the Security Council on April 17 that more than 7.5 million people will need food assistance in 2026. He said South Sudan’s $1.46 billion humanitarian plan is only 22 percent funded. (reliefweb.int) Fletcher said renewed fighting since late December has driven more than 250,000 people from their homes across several states, with another 110,000 fleeing into Ethiopia. He pointed to Jonglei State in the northeast as one of the places under the most pressure. (reliefweb.int) Food crises are graded on a five-step scale, and famine is the highest level, reached when hunger, child malnutrition and deaths all cross extreme thresholds. A February outlook from the Famine Early Warning Systems Network said conflict was pushing parts of Jonglei and Upper Nile into Emergency conditions, one step below famine, with famine risk rising in some areas. (fews.net) The warning comes as South Sudan’s wider political and security situation has worsened. UN News reported in February that renewed violence was straining the 2018 peace deal and colliding with pressure from refugees and returnees linked to the war in neighboring Sudan. (news.un.org) South Sudan is also carrying the spillover from Sudan’s war. UNHCR said in its 2026 appeal that South Sudan hosts more than 400,000 Sudanese refugees while also coping with about 2 million internally displaced South Sudanese. (unhcr.org) Humanitarian agencies had already mapped a severe crisis before this week’s Security Council session. South Sudan’s 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan says the country faces overlapping violence, climate shocks, disease outbreaks and economic stress, with essential services still heavily reliant on aid. (reliefweb.int) Aid access is also getting harder as the conflict spreads. FEWS NET said in March that clashes between government forces and opposition-aligned fighters were disrupting relief operations, while nearly 270,000 people were internally displaced across Jonglei, Lakes, Upper Nile and Central Equatoria. (fews.net) Fletcher told the Council he fears his next briefing on South Sudan “will speak of famine.” The immediate question is whether donors move fast enough to close a funding gap the UN says is already forcing a narrower, emergency-only response. (reliefweb.int)