UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths released 14 million U.S. dollars from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) on Thursday, for direct assistance to 262,521 South Sudanese affected by increased violence and severe flooding.
Interconnected shocks have had a devastating impact on the most vulnerable, said the UN humanitarian office, OCHA.
"This funding will support reducing people's vulnerability and protection risks through activities implemented by the United Nations humanitarian agencies in South Sudan," said Sara Beysolow Nyanti, the humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan.
The International Organization for Migration, the UN Children's Fund, the World Food Programme and the World Health Organization are among the implementing agencies that will target those with the highest severity of needs, according to UN News.
Benefitting from the newly allocated humanitarian funding will be people in the Unity, Upper Nile, Northern Bhar el Ghazel, Jonglei and Warrap states as well as in the Abyei Administrative Area.
The funding will be used to help scale up existing cash programs in providing life-saving services for those most in need, including protection, health, education, water, and sanitation, UN News said.
Since its establishment 16 years ago, CERF has provided fast emergency funding to people in need. This year alone, it allocated 54 million dollars for humanitarian projects in South Sudan, including the latest 14 million dollars allocation for underfunded emergencies.
South Sudan's humanitarian crisis has been underfunded across all interventions leaving millions of people at risk, according to UN News.
An estimated 9.4 million of the most vulnerable South Sudanese will need urgent life-saving assistance and protection next year, compared to this year's 8.9 million. As of Dec. 13, the 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan was funded at 67.3 percent. ■
