UNITED NATIONS, United States, May 15, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - More than seven

million people in fragile South Sudan are at risk of acute food insecurity in
the coming months, including tens of thousands at a "catastrophic" level of
famine, the United Nations warned Tuesday.

"An estimated 7.1 million people will likely be experiencing high levels of
acute food insecurity between April and July 2024," the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement.

Within that group there are "79,000 people at risk of Catastrophic level (IPC
Phase 5)" -- equivalent to famine -- "mostly in locations affected by
climate-related shocks, economic crisis and conflict," it said.

Almost 13 years after its independence in 2011, the world's youngest country
remains plagued by instability and violence.

A total of nine million people are in need of humanitarian aid in South
Sudan, which for the past year has been under compounding pressure from the
war in neighboring Sudan.

Since the fighting began in April 2023, at least 670,000 people have fled to
South Sudan from the north, according to OCHA. Of those, some 80 percent are
South Sudanese who had previously taken refuge in Sudan.

"This influx of returnees and refugees continues to put additional pressure
on limited services at border points and areas of destination," OCHA said.

The UN's $1.8 billion humanitarian response plan for South Sudan this year is
currently only 11 percent funded.