A new United Nations report warns that 7.8 million people in South Sudan – 56 percent of the population – will face high levels of food insecurity in the coming months, as conflict and displacement worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis.

The Food and Agriculture Organization, World Food Programme, and UNICEF have called on the international community to take immediate action to prevent what they described as an “irreversible humanitarian catastrophe.”

The report states that the number of children aged six months to five years suffering from acute malnutrition has risen by 100,000 over the past six months, reaching 2.2 million. An estimated 700,000 children are at grave risk of death.

Many nutritional services in South Sudan have been damaged or closed due to ongoing fighting, driving up the number of people at risk of acute malnutrition. Meanwhile, supply shortages and inadequate funding have reduced access to life-saving treatment.

The humanitarian crisis in the world’s youngest country is fueled by ethnic conflict, climate change, and spillover from the war in neighboring Sudan. The country’s worsening economic crisis has further compounded the situation.

In recent months, fears have grown that the nation could return to all-out civil war. Heavy clashes between the state army and opposition groups have intensified. The tensions stem from a long-standing feud between President Salva Kiir and suspended Vice President Riek Machar.

Source: www.aljazeera.com