South Sudan: Humanitarian Snapshot (December 2024)

In December, acute food insecurity and the malnutrition situation in South Sudan continued to deteriorate due to multiple factors including the economic crisis, repeated climatic shocks and insecurity among others. An estimated 6.1 million people - 45 per cent - of the population were experiencing IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse) including 31,000 South Sudanese returnees experiencing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 5, Catastrophe). In December, over 100,000 people fleeing conflict arrived from Sudan, the majority settling in communities along the border, straining already stretched humanitarian resources. Humanitarian activities at the Joda/Wunthau border area in Renk County were temporarily suspended as a result of fighting between armed factions in Sudan at the border. As of 31 December, the total arrivals from Sudan since April 2023 reached 969,219 individuals. Across the country, intercommunal violence was the primary driver of conflict and continued to affect people. An inter-agency assessment found over 26,000 people displaced by intercommunal violence from Tambura to nearby Ezo and Nagero counties in Western Equatoria State. According to the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, over 15,000 individuals were displaced and properties lost due to violence in Gumuruk, the Greater Pibor Administrative Area. The cholera outbreak continued to escalate in most parts of the country. As of 31 December, there were over 13,735 cases in 29 counties, with 202 deaths. Unity State was the hardest-hit state with 7,700 cases and 124 deaths, followed by Central Equatoria State with 1,585 cases, Upper Nile with 1,123 cases, and Northern Bahr el Ghazal State with 1,045 cases. A vaccination campaign launched in December aimed to contain the outbreak in the most affected areas.