South Sudan floods affect 893,000 people: UN
Some 893,000 people have been affected by flooding in South Sudan and more than 241,000 displaced, the UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA said in a grim update on the disaster.
OCHA said about 893,000 people were flood-affected in 42 of South Sudan’s 78 counties as well as the Abyei Administrative Area, a disputed zone claimed by both Juba and Khartoum.
It said Unity and Warrap states in the north of the country accounted for more than 40% of the affected population.
More than 241,000 people were displaced in 16 counties and the Abyei area “seeking shelter on higher ground”, OCHA added.
Since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, the world’s youngest nation has remained plagued by chronic instability, violence and economic stagnation as well as climate disasters such as drought and floods.
The conflict in Sudan has seen more than 797,000 refugees pour into South Sudan as of September, the World Bank said, almost 80% of them South Sudanese returnees.
The country also faces another period of political paralysis after the presidency announced yet another extension to a transitional period agreed in a 2018 peace deal, delaying elections due to take place in December by another two years.
