Ms. Edem Wosornu, Director of Operations and Advocacy, OCHA, on behalf of Mr. Tom Fletcher, USG for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator - Briefing to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in South Sudan, 16 April 2025

New York, 16 April 2025

As delivered

Thank you, Mr. President.

When I last briefed this Council on South Sudan in August 2024, I warned of a “perfect storm” of stressors – with humanitarian, economic, political, security, environmental crises unfolding simultaneously. The regional volatility is also deepening, as you heard in the closed consultations on Sudan yesterday.

Eight months on, and as the SRSG [Nicholas Haysom, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for South Sudan and Head of the UN Mission in South Sudan] has described, the situation has deteriorated dramatically, into what the Secretary-General recently described as a humanitarian nightmare. If the political crisis is not averted, the humanitarian nightmare will become a reality very quickly.

Today, allow me to focus on three critical issues: the rapidly escalating violence and its humanitarian impact, the compounding effects of pre-existing crises, and the challenging operating environment and funding constraints.

Mr. President, distinguished members of the Council,

This year, 9.3 million South Sudanese – three-quarters of the population – require some form of humanitarian assistance. Children make the half of it.

The violence that has swept through Upper Nile State from mid-February [and] has escalated tensions nationwide, with armed clashes and aerial bombardments causing dozens of casualties. About 130,000 people have been newly displaced, including many thousands reported to have crossed into Ethiopia. This rising violence and displacement have increased the exposure of course as always of women and girls to gender-based violence, including sexual violence, and exploitation.

During her visit to Malakal, Upper Nile, in fact yesterday, [Anita] Kiki Gbeho, the Humanitarian Coordinator, heard firsthand accounts of the impact the violence is having on people.

Six health facilities have been forced to shut down due to attacks and destruction. Earlier this week, services at Ulang Hospital in Upper Nile – a lifeline for 174,000 people – were suspended following extensive looting.

In addition to the civilian casualties, the violence has claimed the lives of four humanitarian workers, bringing the total this year to five.

Humanitarian access remains severely restricted to reach those in need, and critical medical supplies are rapidly running out, amid an ongoing cholera outbreak as you heard from the SRSG.

In the capital, Juba, about 9,600 people are reported to have moved into displacement camps in search of safety and protection.

Mr. President,

Last week, the World Food Programme warned that vulnerable families in the northeast of the country are at a critical tipping point, with hunger nearing record levels. With the pre-harvest lean season now beginning, almost 7.7 million people are acutely hungry – up from 7.1 million people in the same period in 2024.

Beyond the current violence, market disruption, high inflation, and reduced purchasing power also continue to limit household access to food. Our assessments project that 650,000 children under the age of five are at risk of severe acute malnutrition this year.

A reduction in nutrition services along with spreading violence and mounting displacement, are likely to deepen food insecurity and malnutrition in the coming months, especially for women and children.

Humanitarian access in South Sudan continues to face significant challenges due to insecurity, bureaucratic impediments, physical constraints, and complex political dynamics. The damage and looting of humanitarian facilities, and the risks of violence complicate movement into hard-to-reach communities caught up in the conflict. More than a hundred access-related incidents were reported since the beginning of the year, similar to the same time last year.

Mr. President, distinguished members of the Council,

The conflict in Sudan, now two years since the conflict broke out, continues to have a profound impact on South Sudan. Two years since the conflict broke [out] in April 2023, over 1.1 million returnees and refugees have crossed the border. This unprecedented influx has placed immense pressure on local services, food supplies, and already fragile infrastructure, particularly in border areas such as Renk, Malakal and Aweil. We are particularly concerned about the impact on refugee women and girls who face always heightened risks of sexual violence and reproductive health complications.

We are also concerned about growing ethnic divisions and tensions with overstretched host communities. Competition over limited resources is likely to fuel further instability, exacerbate local grievances and increase the threat of intercommunal violence putting humanitarian workers at risk.

The conflict in Sudan is also contributing to an economic crisis in South Sudan, impacting trade, causing inflation to soar to 180 per cent and reducing state oil revenues.

Despite ongoing response efforts, the cholera outbreak first identified in Renk County, near the border with Sudan, has continued to spread. The outbreak – the worst in the nation’s history – has infected 49,000 people and claimed the lives of over 900 people. Health partners have rolled out countryside vaccination campaigns that have reached 5.2 million people so far.

But the risks will grow as the rainy season begins. Last year, severe flooding affected around 1.4 million people across the country. More broadly, the climate crisis continues to drive displacement, disrupt food production, and escalate competition over scarce resources, fueling localized violence.

Mr. President,

In the face of huge challenges, the humanitarian community continues to deliver. By the end of February, about 1.3 million people had been reached with some form of humanitarian assistance.

Humanitarian aid alone cannot resolve political crises, but this year our ability to even mitigate the effects is being severely undermined by unprecedented funding cuts. Our scarce resources are already overstretched

With the very worrying outlook, the window of opportunity must be seized to avert a humanitarian nightmare with a relapse of widespread conflict. This demands urgent, concerted, and decisive action on multiple fronts by national and international stakeholders:

Let me end with three asks:

First, immediate and sustained action to prevent a further deterioration of the situation including securing an immediate cessation of hostilities. This requires our collective efforts to keep the country from descending into chaos and conflict spilling over into neighbouring countries.

Second, all parties to recommit to fully adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law. Civilians must be protected from all forms of violence, including indiscriminate and ethnically motivated attacks. The safety and security of humanitarian workers and assets also needs to be safeguarded.

And third, without immediate and flexible funding, we will be unable to sustain and scale up humanitarian response commensurate with the high levels of need. The 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan requires $1.7 billion to support close to 5.4 million people. This is the reprioritized number we need.

We remain grateful to donors for their generosity. The people of South Sudan are counting on your support. Lives are at stake.

Thank you.